


Even Stars Don't Shine Here

by astoriaphan



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling, Phandom/The Fantastic Foursome (YouTube RPF)
Genre: Character Death, Multi, Pyromania, self harm mention, trigger warning
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-03-01
Updated: 2016-03-27
Packaged: 2018-05-24 01:59:48
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 20
Words: 22,948
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6137389
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/astoriaphan/pseuds/astoriaphan
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Dan Howell is a lonely 16 year old Ravenclaw with a seemingly boring life, until he meets Phil Lester, a mysterious Hufflepuff with an affinity for the sky and a secret. Between keeping a friendship up and an ex-boyfriend at bay, will the boys be able to make it through the year? Meanwhile, someone is brewing a potion in the Chamber Of Secrets. </p>
<p>(Harry Potter AU, set after the wizarding war, Dumbledore didn't die)</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

Chapter One

Dan stepped heavily off of the train platform. One more year of friendless activity, he thought bitterly. Which wasn’t exactly true. Dan did have some friends. But all the wrong kinds, he hardly thought that a pyro ex-boyfriend and a hypersexual internet hobo counted for Dan’s definition of the word ‘friend’. However, he was thankful that he could just have this year to focus on his studies and increasing his knowledge in potions. Treading lightly past the excited clusters of first years, he made his way to the carriages. Once he arrived he placed his bag in a pile near Filch and thanked him. Then proceeded to sit in the buggy. Not five minutes had passed before an aloof looking girl with pink hair and a rather tall, raven haired, boy joined him in his silence. They were anything but. The girl had possibly, the loudest laugh Dan had ever witnessed. But it was nothing compared to the incessant ramblings of the other boy about outer space and the star Beetlejuice. Dan tried to ignore them, like he did everything else, it was proving to be a more difficult task. He wasn’t one for confrontation, so he hoped his exuberant companion would show shortly.  
And there he was. PJ, he had burn marks down his neck and hands and his robes looked tampered with. Why is wearing robes already? Dan wondered but decided against asking of PJ’s antics behind closed compartment doors,

  
“Danny!!” He says excitedly, Dan rolls his eyes at the petty nickname,

  
“Hey Peej, nice holidays I see?” He replies, gesturing to the red mark on PJ’s chin,

  
“Ah yes, that. Well that’s a story for another time,” He winked which just made Dan even more tired of his behaviour, “So who’re your new friends here?” PJ looks pointedly at the boy and girl, sitting opposite to the boys,

  
“Oh! I’m Louise and this is my friend Phil.” The girl says, curly hair bouncing with every enunciated word. Dan couldn’t help but think that her cheeriness was forced. Or maybe she’s just a Hufflepuff,

“This is Dan, and I’m PJ.” Dan thanked any and every god that PJ hadn’t introduced him as some silly pet name. It had taken him ages to go from Daniel to Danny to Dan. And he wanted it to stay that way.

 

  
Out of the corner of his eye, PJ noticed Chris running up to the carriage before it took off, Dan let off a cool laugh until Chris had actually caught up. Chris was the epitome of hormonal teenager. Every comment was laced with some sort of Freud-wannabe-esque terminology. In any light though, he was a decent guy. Once he stepped onto the carriage, Dan’s perspective was shifted. Ok, shifted was an understatement. He was shell shocked. Because when PJ laid eyes on Chris they were on top of each-other, members of the benches bared witness to a full on grope fest that left a tangy taste in Dan’s mouth. He could only think of one word, (and it was barely one at that): Ick.  
The ride to the castle consisted of slopping sounds and awkward eye contact with utter strangers. Just how Dan wanted the year to start off.

***  
The great hall was bustling and as noisy as ever, with the addition of overbearing hand holding by the newlyweds. Dan couldn’t help but feel bitter. Chris knew that he and PJ were seriously dating for months, almost a year, and then the come back from summer break and they’re an item? He scolded himself for thinking that they should’ve asked him first, but why didn’t they ask him first?  
Jesus, I’m such a girl. Dan thought, then pondered why he was being sexist in his own head. All the perks of being a Ravenclaw. His thoughts were interrupted by a cold sensation down his spine.

He jerked back and turn around, there was Phil with a stricken look on his face, empty cup in one hand and a somewhat hidden vile of medication (?) in the other. When he realized that Phil had spilled things all over his back, he stormed out of the hall and to his common room. What a bastard, Dan was sure there was a spell for this. He threw his bag onto the bed,

  
“Accio spell book.” He mumbled, unbuttoning the shirt.

Dan tried not to use magic for everything, but there was no way that he was going to waste his limited gold on new uniform shirts. Why the school even had uniforms, he didn’t know. Finally he landed on a cleaning spell and cast it on his shirt, it took a few tries but once successful it made the clothes look brand new. He glanced at the clock on the wall, it was too late to go back to the hall, there would be nothing to do anyway. For some reason, Dan didn’t feel like being the brunt of the house jokes tonight. Note the sarcasm.

  
He threw on a sweater and some boots, he was going for a walk. Nobody would stop him, not even scraggly old Filch. He throws in some earbuds that played the music from his iPod (thank you muggle parents, he thought) and continues on his merry way.  
The air outside was balmy and the moon hung low in the sky, there were thousands of crickets hiding in the underbrush and Dan listened to the satisfying crunch of willow leaves as an undertone to his beloved band, Muse. Despite Dan’s purposeful alienation from the muggle culture, he did love their music. At least it wasn’t about goblins.

He didn’t realize where he was until he stopped. The daze was broken rather harshly by something Dan didn’t want to see, nor ever would.  
PJ. Fire. Dan didn’t want to elaborate. Why was he doing this here? Now? Was it because he was sad or something? Dan decided to face facts, PJ was burning himself. Consistently, but Peej would never explain. Dan had always assumed it was a weird sexual kink he had, it wouldn’t surprise him compared to the type of stuff Chris came up with most daily conversation. Dan walks forward a little, trying to make himself blend in with his surroundings, it’s no use because PJ notices him immediately and puts his wand away, wiping his eyes. What the hell? Dan thought. He knew that he didn’t want to get involved. But he had to stick his bog nose into everything as per usual.

  
“PJ?” He calls out quietly, eyes adjusting to the dark,

  
“No.” He joked half heartedly, Dan laughed all the same,

  
“What’s up?” Dan offers lamely, how do you approach somebody you just saw burn themselves and then start up a casual discussion?

  
“I’m sorry. That I didn’t ask you first.” He responded, Dan was confused at first, but then realized Peej was referring to Chris,

“It’s okay. You’re not my boyfriend anymore, you don’t need to ask me or talk to me before you date other people.” Dan says, knowing full well that was exactly what PJ wanted to hear,

  
“Thanks.” He says, Jesus why is this so depressing, Dan wondered.

  
“Yeah…” Dan trails off, not knowing what to say for once, so he just takes PJ’s hand, not in a romantic way, and holds it until they get too cold to stay outside and continue into the castle.  
Dan decided to forget what happened that night, for both of their sakes. He just hoped nobody would remember the liquid-spilling incident that had occurred earlier. Probably not. What happens in the first night, stays in the first night.


	2. Chapter Two

Chapter Two

 

            The next day Dan is groggy and overtired. He now knew the reason for the curfew rules. He throws on his uniform and decided against the robes. They just seemed excessive in his current sleep-zombie state. Once he walked down from the dorms, he got a few teases from the upperclassmen on his looks, is uniform yada yada yada…

He bumped into PJ on the way to the great hall. They succeeded in completely forgetting the previous night and talked about anything and everything, they were one the topic of Defence Against The Dark Arts when Chris showed up. Dan felt a twinge of jealousy. But knew he wasn’t supposed to. They walked the rest of the way to the hall together, as a trio again, Chris sharing all his theories on why he had a dream about nachos chasing him around. Dan spotted Phil across the corridor and tried to avert his eyes, but he kind of expected an apology from yesterday’s events. Phil walked over and answered Dan’s prayers,

            “Hey…I just wanted to say sorry for spilling my stuff on you yesterday.” He said sheepishly, hardly making eye contact,

            “It’s fine.” Dan says curtly, which sends Phil into a panic, had he said something wrong? Had he not apologized soon enough? What Phil didn’t know, was that’s just how Dan is.

Dan waves and continues with his friends, he had charms first class and he was not excited. It was his least favorite class, ‘Why would I need pointless charms if I’m going to be a potions master?’ He often asked PJ and Chris. They simply groaned at Dan’s withstanding hatred.

So Dan decided to skip Charms class, he wasn’t overly proud of himself but he did it all the same. Really shows who I am huh? Dan thought to himself as he walked aimlessly around the grounds. Just another day in paradise.

 

***

            Phil Lester. A name not many people knew, but if they did they considered themselves lucky. Not that he was some type of anomaly, nothing of that sort. He was just…a Hufflepuff. When you think Hufflepuff you think of friendliness, daze-y conversations and autumn. Well that was just Phil. His main goal in life is to make people happy, and he barely indulged in selfish activity. Barely. Phil’s best friend Louise knows his deepest self, every crevice in his mind accompanied with 12 am insightful thoughts, rants, the whole lot. So why does he feel so empty? It seemed these days, being his usual happy and loud self was becoming a chore. All he wanted to do was escape into the stars and never come back, he wanted to dance on Saturn’s rings and ride meteors. Of course he knew that it wouldn’t be physically possible, but a boy can dream.

            “Phil?” Louise’s soft voice called, breaking the black haired boy from his self induced confusion,

            “Yeah?” He wonders, he hopes that Louise hadn’t noticed how he had zoned out. Do I do that a lot? He wondered, but he knew he wouldn’t find an answer tucked in somewhere in his head,

            “I was just wondering what we’re doing for our birthday this year? We’re turning 15. This is kind of a huge deal.” Louise said, they shared a birthday. Of course.

            “How about…I have no idea. We’ve done pretty much every theme. How about we just watch some awful muggle movies with friends?” He suggests, giving in to the little voice in his head telling him not to go out,

            “Yeah! That sounds awesome. Write up a guest list and we can exchange them. You’ve got charms class next, you better hurry with that toast,” Louise says, then she’s gone. She’s like that, you’d think she was appirating, but no.

Phil doesn’t seem up to charms class today. He doesn’t feel up to anything actually. But he would never voice that, he’s supposed to be there for people, not vice versa. So he munches on some toast then ambles out of the castle. His hair falling into his face, he goes for a walk. He doesn’t know where he’s going but he doesn’t exactly care. Phil was so wrapped up in his thoughts that he didn’t notice how dangerously close he was getting to a particular willow tree.

Suddenly the ground beneath him lifted and he felt a strong grip on his arms. His eyes focused and he realized that he was entangled in branches, being thrown left and right. There seemed to be no end to it. It’s going to rip me in half!! Phil thought, and let a scream escape his lips when he felt the sharp knots dig into his torso. Death by tree. Fantastic, he muttered to himself. He struggled, but the more he moved the tighter the wood got. He felt like he was going to die. Until it all stopped. Then he was falling, plunging really, to his imminent death,

            “Arresto momentum!” He shouted, and Phil could promise anyone it’s the fastest he’d ever spoken in his life. He scrambled off the grass and caught his breath.

Two ruddy sneakered feet stood in front of him,

            “Were you trying to get killed?!” An exasperated voice exclaims,

            “What do you think?” Phil retorts, then takes a millisecond to be surprised with his newfound sassiness. He then looked up and was completely mortified. It was Dan. The Dan,

            “Well sorry,” Dan said, feigning offense, there was a small smile in his mouth, “Why aren’t you in class?” He asks Phil, Phil shrugs,

            “I couldn’t be assed to go to charms.” Phil replies, what? Phil had just cussed. He never does that, was Dan changing him? Or was he just convincing himself of something,

            “You speak my thoughts.” Dan smiles, for real, then throws a hand down to help Phil stand up,

            “Thanks.” Phil says, for the help and for saving his life, he assumed it was Dan anyway. They made awkward eye contact (at least it was for Phil) and it reminded him of last night when Dan’s friends (?) were snogging as if there were no tomorrow.

            “D’you want to hang out? Seeing as we’re both skipping class I mean.” Dan asks, playing with the hem of his shirt,

            “Yeah sure.” Phil said, and he felt something in his stomach. Not indigestion but some weird tickle, like there was a tiny man in his stomach with a load of feathers and he had just set them along the linings of his stomach.

He followed Dan to under the astronomy tower, from above it looked like an endless chasm, but from where they stood, there were trees and flowers and wildlife to spare. Despite having only eyes for the stars, Phil loved it here. And he loved being there with Dan. Woah, calm down he could be bringing you here to kill you, Phil thought. Then he started nervously thinking about all the ways Dan could possibly murder him here,

            “This is just where I hang out sometimes.” Dan says shyly, he looked vulnerable,

            “Ah, so this is where you bring all the ladies.” Phil jokes, but Dan’s eyes become cloudy,

            “No. Just me and…it doesn’t matter.” Naturally, this made Phil extremely curious, totally forgetting the apathetic mood from the morning,

            “Well then I feel honoured.” Phil smiled at the cloudy boy and it seemed to make him feel better. Normally Phil would press for details, but Dan seemed…sensitive. So he decided to wait for him to tell him,

            “Um, d’you want to meet here next charms class? I think I have to go to potions..” Dan asks tentatively,

            “No time for charms but all the time in the world to make magic soup,” Phil mock-scolds, Dan laughs, “Yeah of course. See you around?” Dan nods and disappirates.

Woah. I thought you couldn’t do that on school grounds, Phil thought, but he was glad to know that Dan was 16. And then he felt significantly younger.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ooh another short chapter. I think we can establish I don't do well with long-ness (ignore that innuendo pls) anyway, feedback is much appreciated. What do you people think will happen next? Comment what you think, and if you liked this or not  
> byeee <3


	3. Chapter Three

Chapter Three

Phil awoke with a pep in his step, he sort of felt back to normal. Why was he so happy you ask? He’s meeting Dan in the chasm again today. He didn’t tell Louise were he was going or that he even skipped charms yesterday. What would she say? Would she interrogate him? He decides to keep it a secret from her. Even best friends have secrets, right? Phil tried to convince himself that what he was doing is okay, but no matter what he told himself he still felt guilty. He wondered briefly if Dan had to keep a secret from his friends. Then snorted, as if Dan of all people would keep meeting Phil a secret. Why would he? Now the pep is gone. He walks to the great hall anyway and waited up for Louise, he saw her running down the gap in between the tables, he laughed and she made a grimace when her hair kept going into her face, mouth, and eyes. Phil laughed lightly and greeted her with a ‘hello’ when she came to him,

“Hey! So I wrote up a guest list and…do you mind if we invite Mack?” She asks, biting her lip in anticipaton,

“Yeah that’s okay.” Phil replied, trying to hide the hurt in his voice, but Louise knew him too well,

“No. I know that it’s going to bother you and it’s your birthday too. He doesn’t need to be there if you don’t want him.” Louise says, trying to comfort him,

“Honestly, I’m over it. Invite Mack if you want to.” Phil says, feeling guilty for making Louise worry,

“If you’re sure…” She says hesitantly,

“One hundred percent.” Phil replies, even though he was totally not okay with Mack coming.  
He checked his timetable, he had charms next.   
His heart made a weird leap and he told Louise he had to go to class, luckily nothing hinted to anything in his voice, except for the truth. He does have to go to class, but he isn’t going. Instead he makes his way to the chasm hoping that Dan hadn’t bailed on him at the last minute.   
He arrived at the mouth of the rocky destination, and there he saw Dan, writing furiously in some type of notebook. Phil felt creepy for watching, but how could he not? He decided against a stalker-y approach to Dan, he didn’t want him to think we was weird,

“Hey.” He decided on. Dan, looking startled, shut his book and waved,

“What’s up?” Dan asks, trying to make casual conversation, were they both nervous or was that just Phil?

“Teen pregnancy rates.” Phil deadpans and Dan laughs loudly, Phil is surprised that he hadn’t heard the joke before, then felt bad for sort of taking credit for it.  
But it was brushed under the carpet when they started talking about other stuff, Potions, friends, etc.  
Phil neglected to mention that his birthday was next weekend, why would Dan want to know? The blue eyed boy assumed that he had better things to do with his time than worry about Phil and Louise’s birthday,

“So…any deep dark secrets?” Dan joked, throwing some pebbles into the small creek, 

“What do you mean?” Phil dances around the subject, was it obvious he was hiding things? If Dan could see it then no doubt Louise could. Now she probably thinks I’m lying to her, Phil thought fearfully,

“Like, have you every killed someone, stuff like that.” Dan explains, throwing another pebble up into the sky aimlessly, Phil gulped. He hadn’t killed anyone but being under the pressure of Dan’s eyes he felt like he probably had and forgot about it,

“Nope, I haven’t killed any people. Or animals. Probably a few bugs, though who doesn’t at some point?” I try to change the subject but Dan means business,

“Wanna make a deal?” He asks nonchalantly, as if he shared secrets with people he just met all the time,

“What kind of deal?” I ask him, 

“I’ll tell you a secret if you tell me a secret.” Dan explains, Phil likes this idea, but he has to act coy so he doesn’t seem like he’s desperate to know about Dan’s life,

“Sure. But you go first.” He bargained, would Dan even have anything inherently secretive? 

“Okay…My ex-boyfriend is a self harming pyromaniac.” Phil looked at Dan, but he seemed unfazed by the confession  
,  
“Mack. Mack is my secret.” Phil whispers, he almost believed that if he didn’t talk about it then it wasn’t real,

“Who’s Mack?” Dan asks, not to Phil’s surprise,

“He’s a boy. A really, really evil boy.” Phil states dryly, he was over the whole ‘it’s-all-my-fault-I’m-a-failure’ drawl. He knew that it wasn’t his fault what Mack did, “And he is coming to my birthday celebration next weekend.” Phil said, internally wincing because he wanted to avoid the age topic,

“Why is he going if he’s evil?” Dan asks, he had stopped throwing pebbles and was looking Phil in the face,

“Louise – my best friend – and I share the same birthday, she doesn’t know what he did, she just thinks that we,” Dan looks at him, pleading for him to finish the story, “that we broke up.” Phil says, the final nail in the coffin. It was real and he couldn’t take it back,

“I don’t mean to invite myself, but I can come to your celebration thing? Protect you from this guy maybe…” That last bit was shy,

“Would you?” Phil asks, incredulous,

“Yeah. I mean I don’t know you that well but I know that nobody deserves to feel in danger on their birthday.” Phil smiled widely at Dan’s whole ‘protective’ persona,

“Okay, I’ll give you the details.” Phil smiled despite his Mack-related anxieties, then Dan checked his watch, swore about how late he was to potions class and disappirated.

Phil liked that Dan was coming to him and Louise’s birthday. But what would Louise say? What would Phil say? ‘Remember that guy who I spilled pumpkin juice on and that we barely know? Yeah he’s coming to our birthday, surprise!’ As if.   
He went to the rest of the day’s classes, but they were over shadowed by the worrisome thought of Mack doing something to him again at the party, and the nerve-racking choice of how to tell Louise that he was inviting a half-stranger.  
***

Dan was tired. He hadn’t gotten much rest the night before and worrying about PJ wasn’t making it any easier to stay focused. He was late for potions for the first time in five years. Totally worth the confession on Phil’s side though. He wondered what Mack had done, but he knew it wasn’t his place to ask. So Phil likes boys, and Dan had told someone about his whole PJ dilemma. It made him feel somewhat relieved. But now he had to worry about Phil telling people. He highly doubted that Phil would, but anything is possible.   
He was walking to his house when he heard a familiar, agitated voice,

“Just stop PJ! How can it be that hard?” Chris says, his cheeks red in anger,

“Chris…it’s not that easy. I can’t do this on my own.” PJ cried quietly,

“No. I can’t be with you like this.” Chris says, voice breaking.

Were they breaking up for good? Dan wondered. He peeked his head around the corner and saw PJ’s face. He was making that expression he always does when he’s trying to act cold to someone, but he’s really upset. Dan’s heart constricts to see him like this,

“Fine.” PJ walks off, hands quivering.

Chris turned the corner, tears running down his face, he saw Dan.   
Looking away, Chris continues to walk. Dan didn’t know what to do. What friend does he follow? He decides on PJ.   
PJ was outside, fire on his fingertips and sticky tears on his cheeks. He watches for a while, to see what happens. PJ sets fire to his arm, screaming the whole time. Dan runs forward and puts it out. His skin looks okay, the fire wasn’t there long enough for terrible damage. Dan holds PJ to his chest, getting a full view of messy, curly hair. He cries into his shirt and Dan holds him, tell him it will be okay, even though he doesn’t believe it,

“Peej look at me,” The green eyed boy looked into Dan’s eyes, “we’re going to get you help okay? Chris will want you back in three hours I guarantee.” He says, wiping the tears off his ex-boyfriends face,

“Dan…” He trailed off, staring into his eyes.

Their lips came merely millimeters apart, Dan connected them.   
Kissing PJ again was like coming home from a vacation he never wanted to be on in the first place. Dan traced the scar on his chin as they kissed, PJ’s fingers were tangled helplessly in Dan’s hair. It seemed like hours after they pulled apart,

“PJ I think-“ PJ cut him off,

“Dan, I love you.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hellooo! Were you expecting that? I hope not... anyway, i love hearing feedback so even if you only want to critisize, please tell me what you think. New chapter tmrw   
> <3


	4. Chapter Four

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> ahhhh an extremely short chapter! I'm sososo sorry. Tomorrow's will be a lot longer (:  
> <3

Chapter Four

“Phil! Get out of bed you lazy fart!” Louise exclaimed, pulling Phil’s legs off of the bed and into the cold September air,

“What the fuck Lou? I’m sleeping!” Louise was surprised by Phil’s language but she swore all the time,

“You’re going to be late for class! McGonagall is going to kill you!” She continued on pulling him out of the bed,

“Fine, fine I’m getting up!” Phil sat up, “Now get out of the boy’s dormitory!” Louise rolled her eyes and left.

Phil changed into his uniform and went downstairs, in the common room there were a few guys studying and smoking. Ugh could they not wait until they get outside? Phil asked himself, but they’d just nag him for having a stick in a gross place. Phil grabbed his books out of the community shelf and headed to class.   
On his way down the half busy corridors he spots Dan, he wants to say hi or even just smile at him but then he wondered if he was supposed to. Were they even friends? Phil wondered. He decided on saying hi, but by the Dan was already around the corner and up to who knows what.  
***   
Last night seemed like a far off dream. Dan had to spend at least 20 minutes convincing himself that it happened. PJ? Love him? He has a boyfriend! Kind of…  
Dan shook his head, as if the thoughts would fly off, he had to tell Chris to get Peej back. He knew that Chris would regret it by now. So he walked to the Gryffindor common room,  
“Password?” The fat lady asks, bored,

“Cospherous.” Dan says, the nonsense word lets him in and he walks straight up to the boy’s dorms, where he knew Chris would be sleeping in. He bangs on the door and he hears a loud noise. Probably Chris telling him to go away,

“I’m coming in!” Dan announces and opens the door.

When he walks in it smells like smoke and dirty laundry. Chris was in a heap in the bed and the blankets were in a circle around him. Dan exhales, getting ready for a pep talk,  
“Chrissy, what’s wrong?” He asks, using an annoying nickname that usually gets him riled up,

“Nothing.” Chris says flatly, Dan was surprised but let it slide. He was upset after all,

“I know something is wrong. You can tell me.” Dan said, using the trademark line that everyone uses when they want in on a secret,

“PJ and I….” Chris trails off, “I think we broke up last night.” He says finally,

“What? But you guys were so happy together! What happened?” Dan asked, playing dumb,

“He told me something…and I kind of freaked out. I know it wasn’t the right reaction but it was just my first instinct. Then he started acting completely un-PJ and I got angry.” He explains, voice muffled a bit due to the pillow over his face,

“Well a fight doesn’t mean you guys broke up. Every relationship has problems. Did you talk to him after?” Dan continued with his façade,

“No. I was too nervous to. What if he hates me?” Chris says, Dan had never thought of Chris as somebody who would worry about this kind of stuff, but he clearly was,

“He doesn’t hate you. Hell, he was snogging you not eight hours ago!” Dan exclaims, trying to cheer up his friend,

“I guess you’re right. I think I’ll talk to him today.” Chris says, 

“There you go!” Dan says, encouragingly. He felt a tad guilty for lying to Chris. But was he really lying? Dan wondered,

“Thanks Dan.” Chris said, sitting up in bed, 

“Anytime.” Dan turned and left, Chris was getting dressed to go out to find PJ and apologize.

Feeling good about how he had somewhat managed to help anyone other than himself, Dan went to the chasm. He sat on a rock and began to write in his journal. When he had gotten it as a birthday gift, he thought it was lame and girly. But then he actually started writing in it and it was proving to be not too bad.

September 17th 2012,  
Dear journal, I kind of helped PJ and Chris make up, but I don’t actually know since Chris hasn’t talked to Peej yet. I feel like I should have mentioned that we kissed. And that PJ said he loved me. But I think that it was a spur of the moment thing. He was probably just wanting to be with someone since he thought Chris and him were over. And I’m going to Phil’s birthday party. Who knew the first week at Hogwarts could be so dramatic? Anyway, gotta go. Someone’s coming.   
-Dan

He heard a rock move and then another, then Phil showed up from around the corner. Phil looked…different. Dan stepped forward, concerned. He reaches out to help him down the rocky path. As soon as they touched, he collapsed into tears. What is with Dan and crying boys?


	5. Chapter Five

Chapter Five

Dan and Phil lay together on the cool grass once the other had calmed down somewhat. Phil is shaking as the aftermath for the crying. Dan comforted him, wondering what had happened, finally he asked. Phil just looked at him sadly and smiled,

“Mack talked to me today.” He said, Dan didn’t understand any more than he did before, but he hugged the blue eyed boy closer and rubbed his back,

“I thought he would leave me alone. I thought…” He stops talking,

“You’ll be okay. You don’t ever have to talk to him ever again.” Dan said, trying to help him,

“Only when I’m here. Only when I’m with you.” Phil said. He leaned on Dan’s chest, they looked up at the falling sun, the astronomy tower blocking their few of the castle. Phil points up to the sky and starts naming constellation after constellation.  
Dan stares at him, he seemed so much happier looking at the sky. Phil’s voice dies off when he realizes Dan is looking at him, but he looks away.  
***  
Phil wakes up to the feeling of steady breath. He looks down and saw a familiar mop of brown hair, curled and messy. The boy beneath him had his legs wrapped around Phil’s body and face nuzzled into his neck. Phil smiled, not wanting to wake Dan, he lay there for a few minutes. The sleeping boy stirs and wakes up, looking up at Phil,

“Oh. I guess we fell asleep.” He says, stating the obvious,

“You’re smart too!” Phil mocks, the curly haired boy laughs and sits up, 

“We should just stay here all day.” He says, looking up at the cloudless sky. Phil looks at him and smiles, but soon shakes his head,

“I can’t. I have to help Louise plan the birthday thing. Even though it’s casual. Lou loves planning.” Phil says, getting off the grass and wiping his pants,

“Ugh fine. Lame! Dan says in an American accent which made Phil giggle,

He waved goodbye to Dan and left the chasm. Walking away felt terrible, he really did want to stay there all day with Dan, but he knew he had to help Lou. He also knew that he had to tell her what Mack did. But could he? Phil remembered watching the stars with Dan last night and felt better about the situation, if all goes to hell, he can live in the chasm forever. 

Louise was folding up invitations, signing her name in loopy cursive. She noticed Phil and smiled,

“Hey! Do you mind that I signed your name for you?” Phil shook his head,

“Of course not.” He replied, and sat on her bed with her. Taking a deep breath he opened his mouth to tell her about Mack, but she had her own news,

“I have to tell you something.” She sounded nervous, Phil gave her a look as if to say to go on,

“Mack…asked me out. But I didn’t give him an answer because I wanted to see what you thought first.” Lou bites her lip, Phil’s heart drops to his knees and he struggled to breathe steadily,

“Um…I don’t mind. But I don’t think it’s a good idea. I mean, we dated it might be awkward.” Phil says, frantically looking for any other excuse besides the truth,

“Well…I think we should just try it. Just to see what happens?” He knew Louise would do it either way, so he gives her his blessing and they continue making invitations. He had a sickly feeling in his throat, the party was tomorrow night. Tomorrow everything would be different.

“Where are you going?” Lou asked, as Phil got off the bed and headed out the door,

“I have a class.” He lied,

“No you don’t. We have the same schedule…” She replied,

“I swapped free class for care of mythical creatures.” He mumbles, he clearly didn’t but he needed to get out,

“Oh…okay then. Have fun!” She calls behind him.

He marches to where he knew Dan would be. He wasn’t crying this time. This time he was angry. As soon as he saw him, he burst at the seams. Everything spilled out,

“Love potions.” He said, spitting the words out like poison,

“What?” Dan asked, confused,

“Often containing ashwinder egg, moonstone and rose thorns. Very dangerous. Every heard of Amore Ragastella?” Phil asks, undoing his tie frustratingly,

“Yeah. One of the most difficult love potions in the world. But that was banned years ago! It was like the imperius curse but in potion form.” Dan tried to stop Phil’s pacing but he kept going,

“Mack slipped it into my drink.” Dan’s eyes widen,

“What.” He says weakly,

“He slipped it into my drink. He made me do his bidding for two years. He made me do terrible things. I knew he gave me something but I couldn’t tell anyone. Because he told me not to.” Phil was seething, remembering everything that had unfolded,

“That’s evil.” Dan said, getting nearly as angry as Phil,

“And now he’s doing the same thing to Louise.” Dan looks up quickly,

“Are you sure?” He asked nervously,

“Positive. Unless he just wants to hurt me…” That did sound like something Mack would do,

“Okay. I’m coming tomorrow night. So I won’t leave your side and we can both have eyes on Louise and Mack.” Phil nods,

“Thank you.” He looks into Dan’s eyes, then realized how close they were together. He looked down at his mouth then quickly back up at his eyes, 

“What the fuck.” They heard a voice say, Phil looks at the boy, PJ and smiles,

“PJ! What are you doing here?” Dan asked, he pulled two feet away from Phil,

“The question is what are you doing here, with him. In this place.” PJ said, making Phil confused.

He looked at PJ’s face and saw multiple burn marks. So this is his ex boyfriend? Phil asked himself. The pyromaniac self harmer.

“We were just talking.” Phil says,

“Yeah, just talking.” PJ says sarcastically, Phil didn’t like how he was acting. Not at all,

“We were just talking, and who would you be?” Phil repeats, voice chilly,

“His-“ 

“Ex boyfriend.” Phil finished for him, PJ gives him a dirty look,

“Phil, would you excuse us for a few minutes?” Dan asks, giving PJ weird look,

“Yeah of course.” Phil turns and walks away.

PJ stands in a guarded stance, looking Dan up and down.

“Did Chris talk to you?” Dan asks, 

“Yep. We broke up. Officially.” Shit, Dan thought, PJ leaned forward. He stroked Dan’s cheek but he pulled away,  
“Don’t.” Dan says softly,

“Dan I love you.” He says, he tries to kiss him again, but Dan pulls away,

“I…I don’t love you.” He says, PJ starts to cry,

“Who is it. Him? That Phil guy? You can do so much better than him!” PJ becomes angrier and angrier,

“PJ calm down.” Dan says, 

“No! You bring him here?! Of all places? And don’t lie, I know you weren’t just talking. Why do you want him over me?! He’s just a gullible Hufflepuff. He’s disposable!” Dan’s hand moves on his own accord and slaps PJ’s face, 

“Go home. Don’t talk to me again unless you want to apologise.” He says, the walks around PJ. On his way out, he bumps into Phil.

He thought about what PJ had said. Did he like Phil? Did he want to do that? He barely knows him. Then why did he slap PJ in defence? It was probably because he knew what Mack had done.

“Let’s go somewhere else.” He says, grabbing Phil’s hand. He had a feeling that this wasn’t just a convenient friendship.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ooooooh so we finally get to see what Mack did! Sorry this took so log to update, I just had a small spell of writers block but now I'm bursting with ideas! I just wanted to thank you guys for commenting, it really means a lot to me and helps me to keep writing (: I'm going on holiday with my family so I might not update that much over the next two days, or I might update more. Idk. But I'll write everyday. Okay gtg <3 (also apologies this is 98% dialogue)


	6. Chapter Six

Chapter Six

It was Saturday evening. Everyone was buzzing like dull bees. There was an old movie from the muggle world playing in the back round and people sat scattered in the common room of the Hufflepuff house. People usually think it’s some wooden cabin type room, but it’s not. The walls are black and are scattered by band posters (including orchestras) and black lights. There are at least six used couches that are more comfortable than the beds in the dorms. It smells like weed and rain, there’s no fire in the fireplace, instead a few plushies hanging by dental floss. What would you expect from a house full of teenagers who value friends over anything else? In the corner, there was a girl with pink hair casually flirting with a rather tall boy with spiky black hair and piercing green eyes. The guests were drinking iced tea with vodka, or just water. Phil was sitting on the arm of a couch, joint in hand. He was sharing with a cute boy from his defence against the dark arts class. He didn’t notice the pink haired girl or the boy she was with. He just wanted to forget.   
Dan was across the room, eyes peeled for Louise. But he kept getting distracted by the smoking boy on the couch. More so who he was with. More so how they had just started snogging. Dan looks away, he didn’t know what the feeling was. He wasn’t really jealous, but he wasn’t overly excited at the fact. Then he saw it. Louise, left her drink on the end table while she went to the bathroom. Hufflepuffs only saw the good in people don’t they? Dan asked himself. Mack, with his greasy spiked hair, pours something from a vile into her drink. Dan takes his wand out and makes the cup spill all of it’s contents on his leather shoes. It burns a whole right through them. Exactly what Amore Ragastella would do if it touched it’s maker. Dan grinned to himself, but Mack just cursed to himself and dissapirated. He looked back to Phil, just in time to see him disappear up to the dorms with his boy-toy. I guess it was his birthday. 

Phil woke up the next day with no hangover, but a stranger in his bed. He turned on his side to see that Darius from one of his classes was butt naked next to Phil. Who was also naked. Fuck. Literally. Phil threw on some underwear and a t-shirt and woke Darius. His eyes fluttered open in an overly cute way, and Phil decided that he didn’t always make the worst decisions when he was high,  
“Hey Phil.” He says with a smile, he then kisses him on the mouth. And Phil kisses back,

“You’re naked.” Phil then says, and they both laugh.  
Darius gets out of bed and puts on some clothes,

“I should go.” He says, Phil feels a twinge of disappointment, but it was just a one night stand.  
He leaves and Phil is left alone to go dwell in his thoughts. He walks downstairs to the common room once he is sure Darius is gone, and is surprised to see a familiar face laying on the couch,

“Dan?” He asks quizzically,

“Oh. You’re awake. I saw your boyfriend leave.” Dan replied, not looking up from his book,

“He’s not my boyfriend.” Phil replies, because he wasn’t,

“But you’d like him to be. Right?” The younger boy thought about it, would he?

“I don’t know…” Phil replies, squirming under Dan’s bored stare,

“Well you’ve got sex out of the way.” Dan says, looking Phil up and down, like he was sizing him up,

“What’s up with you?” Phil asks, annoyance seeping from his words,

“Nothing.” Dan responds, he sits up and pats the spot next to him. Phil sits down,

“So…I think I might get back together with PJ.” He says, Phil’s eyes widen,

“Are you sure that’s a good idea?” 

“Are you sure it’s a good idea to sleep with strangers?” Dan retorts,

“Is that what this is about? Why do you even care.” Phil asks, standing up and hovering over Dan,

“I don’t care.” Dan says, standing up too, he was much taller than Phil was and looked down on him,

“Then why do you keep bringing up Darius? He’s just a one night stand. It’s not like I plan to fucking marry him.” Phil says, anger rising in his throat,

“Yeah but you plan on fucking.” Dan replies, face unreadable,

“You don’t get to decide who I date or who I sleep with! I just met you for god sake!” Phil yells, Dan grabs Phil’s tie and wraps his hand in it, Phil was convinced he would hit him.  
But he just pulled him close. They felt each other’s breath on their face, Phil deadly still. He lets him go,

“You’re right. I don’t get to decide. But I still get to be upset about it.” Face still neutral,

“Again, why do you care?” Phil asks,

“Because.” He replies, Phil rolls his eyes, 

“ ‘Because’ isn’t an answer Dan.”

“Because what if he’s like Mack? What if he’s just using you? You don’t know anything about him.” Dan says, voice raised, Phil was happy nobody would be in the house at this time of day,

“I can’t keep living in fear just because I dated one bad guy. I need to be more trusting in people.” Phil says,

“PJ was right, you are gullible.” Dan spat, but immediately regretted it,

“Fuck you.” Phil says, barely above a whisper. He’s crying but he keeps eye contact with Dan, “You have no idea! You have no idea how much therapy I had to go through just to be able to leave my bloody house everyday. Don’t you tell me I’m gullible when I blamed myself for the longest time for the stuff he made me do. I wasn’t ready for anything yet! I was only 13!” 

“Phil I’m sorry I didn’t mean it.” Dan says voice breaking on the last word,

“Yeah I know. Neither did he.” Phil turns on his heel and leaves, slamming the common room door behind him.

He walked at top speed. Cold air biting his hot tears right off of his face. He couldn’t go to the chasm. He couldn’t go anywhere. He started to run. He ran to the quidditch pitch. He stood in the middle and looking at the stands. Remembering how him and Mack used to kiss behind the checked fabric. How they would sneak out so they could watch the stars. How Mack would always protect him. And how Phil never saw what he was doing to him. He spreads his arms out as wide as he can and just screams. He screams until he has no voice left inside him. He hated Mack. He hated Dan.  
There was an abrupt sense of void in Phil’s chest. Did he really just say he hated Dan? He was the only person he had the guts to be honest about Mack. He even gave up his Saturday night to protect him. He was probably on his list of best friends, right next to Lou. He looked around him, eyes ajar from what they once were. He was no longer going to live in the past. What happened had happened and now it was over.   
“Only here, only with you.” He heard himself say, he had said that to Dan.  
What was he doing? He asked himself. Phil turned around and ran back to the castle, jumping in time to the moving staircases, nearly falling to his death. He ran down corridors, the faint yells of the paintings he left in his wake were simply a dream. Finally he made it to Hufflepuff. Would Dan still be here? Not waiting, he takes a mallet and hits the pattern on the xylophone for entry.   
Phil tumbles into the common room, his feet tripping over each-other from lack of running. Dan was there. He had waited. Phil smiles, not caring that his eyes were red and puffy from the crying. Not caring about the last things he had said to the brown haired boy in front of him. Because Dan had waited for him,

“Phil!” Dan says happily, noticing Phil’s smile,

“I am so sorry. I shouldn’t have overreacted.” The younger said, looking the eldest in the eyes,

“No Phil! It was my fault. I was being a prat.” Dan says, standing over the black haired boy. He was only now realizing that he dyed it. Or he just dyed is eyebrows red,

“You were right. What if he had been like Mack? I have to be more careful.” Phil said, 

“Well I am a Ravenclaw, we kind of know everything.” Dan smirks,

“What was that about you being a prat?” The taller pushed Phil onto the couch and they laughed. Phil took a deep breath, happy to be in the weight of normalcy once more. But was normalcy really what he wanted?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hey! omg I had to rewrite this 3 times but I'm happy with this version. ugh back to classes tomorrow *impales self* jk, but seriously. Anyway, chapter six, leave your thoughts, comments or criticisms in the comments (pls be nice tho) thanks for reading and being generally awesome :)  
> <3


	7. Chapter Seven :)

Chapter Seven

 

            PJ sat alone at a table in the library, mulling over what had happened with Dan. He was certain Dan would feel the same way. PJ felt his cheek, remembering that day. There was still a rather dark bruise on his face. He hated that black haired boy. He hated Phil.

***

            Phil lay sprawled out onto a blanket in the grass, a lanky brown haired boy was running his fingers through his hair as they both stared at the stars,

            “I wonder what it would be like to live on the moon.” Phil wondered,

            “Probably very cold. We could move to Canada instead.” Dan responds, playing with Phil’s hair endlessly,

            “Very funny, but have you really thought about it? What if somewhere in the universe, there’s a world just like this, only we’re muggles.” Phil muses, hands restless,

            “That would suck. Then I would actually have to walk places and be a normal human being.” Phil chuckles and his vision blurs from looking at the moon for too long,

            “I can’t believe we only just met nearly two weeks ago.” Phil says, not looking away from the sky,

            “I know. It feels like we always should have been friends.” Friends.

Phil turns his head against the blanket, his ear tickles a little but he doesn’t notice I much. Dan looked into his eyes, he was above him, propped up on one elbow. Phil sits up and Dan frown at the lack of hair to play with,

            “Dan…were you serious about getting back together with PJ?” He asks, thinking back to yesterday in the common room,

            “No. I don’t think I’ll even be friends with him again.” Dan said, somewhat upset,

            “What about that other guy?” Phil asks,

            “Chris? He’ll get over it. He’s so sex crazed, he’ll find a new toy in two weeks flat.” Dan said, assured of his words,

            “Okay good.” Phil lays back down and they resume looking at the stars, but something feels different to the younger boy. He was probably just tired.

***

            In the Slytherin household, there were multiple boys fooling around. Daring each-other to eat foul flavoured beans. In a corner, on a black leather seat, sat a boy with spiked hair equally as dark as his leather moveable. He was scrawling in a notebook, trying to devise his next plan. Little did he know, a short boy with grassy eyes was staring at him. Freckles crease with every forced smile. Who was he? The short boy wondered.

***

            “Dan?” Phil asked, he heard shallow breaths beside him,

            “Yeah?” Dan asked, his voice low and clumsy,

            “Are you okay?” The elder looks into Phil’s snowy blue planet eyes and bites his lip,

            “I don’t know. I don’t know if I’ll ever be.”

            “You will be.” Phil decides,

            “How do you know? What if a meteor falls from the sky and crushes us. What if some dark lord comes and kills the whole school!” Dan’s voice raised an octave,

            “What if tomorrow we wake up and found out that meteor hit Mack? What if some dark lord comes and we defeat him?” Phil countered,

            “Phil, I love you, but sometimes you’re really naïve.” _I love you,_

            “Don’t turn this into some sort of rom-com moment.” Phil mock-gagged,

            “Fine, fine.” The smile was evident in his voice, “But if a dark lord comes to this school and tries to kill us, we really are moving to Canada.”

    Phil bursts into laughter and his hand brushes against Dan’s.

***

            PJ continued to stare at the mysterious boy in the corner, his eyes scarcely straying. Who was he? He hadn’t recalled seeing him around before today. He musters up all the courage inside him, and walks over,

            “I’m PJ.” He says, throwing out a hand. Is it overselling it?

  
            “I’m Mack.” The boy, Mack, responds, shaking PJ’s hand. He didn’t even notice the nervous sweat between his fingers.

            PJ smiles and sits next to him. They seem to have the same motives, both hate Phil,

            “Wait, why do you hate him so much?” PJ wondered,

            “I’m not sure if I should tell you…” Mack hesitates, PJ is at the edge of the leather,

            “You can trust me.” He says matter of factly,

            “He…Phil used the imperius curse on me. He made me be his boyfriend.” Mack explains,

            “That’s awful! Smarmy git…” PJ responds, realization hits him, “What if he’s using the curse on Dan!”

            “Who’s Dan?” Mack asks,

            “He’s my ex. He now suddenly doesn’t love me. Ever since he started hanging around with Phil.” The pieces fell into place in PJ’s mind,

            “It wouldn’t surprise me. But it’s not like we can stop him.” Mack says, disdain in his voice,

            “Why not? He hurt you. He’s hurting Dan!” PJ saw no flaws in this,

            “I guess…but who wouldn’t want to hurt me?”

            “Mack, I would never hurt you.” PJ says, holding the boy’s hand. It was soft,

            “Okay…so should we try and foil Phil’s plans or something? I have no idea how to do stuff like this.” Mack bit his lip and it reminded PJ of Dan,

            “I’m not sure yet…” PJ knew he would find someway to get back at Phil. Even if it meant somebody had to get burned, and not necessarily himself.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hey! I'm back (hopefully for a while) and I think you people are going to either really love, or really hate where I'm going with this story. So let's find out :))  
> <3


	8. Chapter Eight

Chapter Eight

 

            Dan stares outside the castle window, rain pelts down on the stained glass, October was at it’s peak. Dan could hardly believe that it had been a month since he started school. So far he had lost one friend, and him and Chris hadn’t spoken in quite a while. Professor Harpendale, Dan’s potions teacher, snapped him out of his daze,

            “Dan, can you tell me how many wands have a thestral hair?” Dan was puzzled, what did this have to do with potions?

            “One sir, the elder wand.” He replied, Harpendale nodded and continued with his lesson, Dan returned to staring out the window. It had been twenty minutes when class was dismissed, but before anyone had a chance to leave the room, Professor had something to add,

            “Don’t forget, the Samhain Ball is next week!” Ball? Dan thought, it seemed strange that they would be having a ball so soon in the school year. Dan wasn’t complaining though, now he had an excuse to lack on homework.

            He made his way through the winding corridors, nearly tripping over professor Flitwick. Apologising profusely, he keeps on marching, finally he makes his way to a familiar marble staircase. It lead to the Ravenclaw tower, and also the Hufflepuff house. Dan scaled the stairs two at a time, instead of his usual right, he turns left. He gets to the large brass xylophone and takes the mallet. Chiming the password, he gains access. Once inside, he smells the comforting smell of incense and hemp. It smelled like Phil. Dan pushes his way past the not-so-rare stoners and bounds into Phil’s bedroom,

            “Phil! There’s a Samhain Ball!” Dan announces, Phil sits up on his bed,

            “Daaan, it’s 10 am I don’t have to be up for another two hours for classes.” The boy’s voice was raspy and there were dark purple circles under his eyes,

            “Somebody has a hangover, c’mon we need to find dates! It’s next week. All the good ones will be taken.” Dan hadn’t told Phil he’s bisexual, it never really came up,

            “Ugh I don’t care about the ball, I care about my sleep!” Phil threw his duvet over his head but Dan jumped into the bed next to him,

            “Phil! Get up! You’ve already missed breakfast, maybe we can nip over to Hogsmeade? Get some food, yeah?” Dan said, Phil pulled the blankets down to reveal misty blue eyes,

            “We can split a bill at Honeydukes.” Phil said, weighing his options,

            “Yep. But you’ve got to get up.” Phil groaned but pulled himself off the bed, landing in a heap of blankets on the wood floor, he stood up, his bare chest cooling in the unheated air.

Dan couldn’t help but stare at Phil’s stomach, and the small trail of hair disappearing into his boxers. He tried to rip his eyes away, but the only reason that happened was when Phil pulled on a maroon t-shirt. It was strange to see him in his street clothes, it was a nice change. Phil grabbed a pair of trainers from under his bed and smiled at Dan,

            “Shall we?”

            “We shall.”

 

***

            “What about kidnapping him?” PJ asked, Mack shook his head vigorously,

            “No, too much suspicion, they wouldn’t stop looking for a culprit.” PJ nodded in agreement,

            “We need to make it look like an accident.” Mack pursed his lips, PJ held his chin in his palm, thinking about possibilities,

            “What about poison? It’s the perfect revenge! We can’t force him to drink anything, so it will be his own fault.” PJ said impressively, feeling rather proud of himself,

            “Okay. I’ll brew something.” Mack said decidedly, PJ was surprised that it was going to be that easy, Mack listed off all of the ingredients he would need, and the boys were in a cooking frenzy. All under the girls lavatory.

***

            Phil bit off the head of a chocolate frog, Dan laughed at him and did the same. They compared cards and unfolded their legs on the bench, so that the were sitting face to face,

            “D’you think that I’ll be able to find a date for the ball?” Phil asked, nibbling the chocolate legs of his frog,

            “I think so. What about me?” Dan said, looking at Phil when he wasn’t looking,

            “I think anyone would cut of their thumbs to be your date.” Dan failed to withhold a snort, and Phil grinned at him.

            “I think I’ll ask Darius.” Phil said casually, Dan’s eyes flicked up,

            “You sure?” He asked,

            “Ugh, are you going to go all Big Brother Dan on me again? I’m just saying that I could ask him. I mean, I know he likes me. Or at least used to like me…”

            “How could anyone stopped liking you?” Dan said, not thinking first, Phil gives him a weird look, his cheeks lightly blushed, “I mean, you’re pretty cool.”

            “Nice save.” Phil retorts, biting the end of his licorice wand harshly, making a satisfying _clack_ ,

            “If you go with Darius, who will I go with?” Dan whined, trying to make it evident that he was joking,

            “Oh. Since when were we going together?” Phil joked,

            “Since we got married, were you asleep for that part? Probablyyy.” Dan laughed and Phil shoved him for the banter,

            “But seriously, if we can’t find dates by Wednesday night, we’ll go together. As mates.” Phil negotiates,

            “Deal.”

           

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Short chapter for today (when are they not though.) I'm really excited to write the next few chapters, lots of bants and behind the scenes with PJ and Mack. New chapter tomorrow! <3


	9. Chapter Nine

Chapter Nine

           

            It was Tuesday, the whole school was buzzing about the Samhain Ball. Girls travelled in packs, shyly eyeing boys around brick corners. Everyone in Dan’s house had a date except for him. It was time to get a move on. Awkwardly, Dan walked by a boy asking a girl to the dance and her starting a snog-athon. Why did people have to bring dates to this dance anyway? It’s not like Samhain is a romantic holiday. It was about a demon coming up from the underworld to eat children. Anything to appease the ravenous hormonal wave of teenagers, and tweens alike.

            Dan checked his timetable, he had Defence Against The Dark Arts for his next class. Where he knew Chris would be. He rushes to the classroom, that was rumoured to be a hideout back in the wizarding war, and gets there just in time. Professor Longbottom begins in a lesson about boggarts and the students were all eager to hear from the hero who defeated Voldemort’s final horcrux and made everything for the famous Harry Potter possible. Dan sat at the edge of his seat, Longbottom was drawling on about a story of a man who used polyjuice potion to trick the entire staff. He always strayed from the main topic of the lesson but nobody seemed to care. Suddenly, Dan felt a tap on his shoulder, he turned and saw Chris, smiling goofily,

            “This man right here has got, most likely, the finest piece of ass to go to the ball with. Care to take a guess?” Chris brags, flicking an invisible ball of lint off of his robes,

            “Enlighten me.” Dan said, holding back a wide grin,

            “Two words, James Mitchell.” Dan’s eyes popped,

            “As in the seventh year seeker for Slytherin? How did you manage that?” Dan whisper-yelled, making sure Professor wouldn’t hear this nonsensical conversation,

            “Let’s just say he was very impressed with how I use my mouth.” Chris winked and Dan mock gagged,

            “Good on you man.” Dan said between stifled laughs,

            “Thank-you young sir.” Chris smirked, then returned to doodling some sort of comic on his parchment.

***

            Mack and PJ were brewing in the Chamber. Surprisingly, the only thing that was unsettling, was the gigantic basilisk skeleton at the mouth of the cave. Not the fact that Tom Riddle nearly succeeded in his devilish plan. Despite him hating school, PJ was very informed on wizard history,

            “Pass me the mandrake root.” Mack said, absorbed in his work, PJ rifled through a small box of dried mandrake root, he put it in Mack’s gloved hand and he rips it up, tossing it in the cauldron. There was a small sizzling noise and a grey puff of smoke coming from the cauldron. Mack reached for the cover to the obsidian pot and covered the smoke. PJ wasn’t exactly sure what the older boy was doing, but it was taking ages,

            “So…when are we giving this to him?” PJ wondered,

            “At the ball. We can lure him outside, then make him drink it.” Mack explained,

            “You’re so strong, how can you be so brave to be actually getting revenge on this guy? I mean, he abused you.” PJ said, hoping he wasn’t crossing a line,

            “I just want him to pay for what he’s done.” Mack said, PJ frowned, he felt sympathetic for Mack, he couldn’t imagine making a potion to poising his abusive ex-boyfriend.

***

            Nearing the end of the day, and Dan still didn’t have anyone to go to the ball with. He wondered if Phil had asked Darius yet, or was still planning to. He was heading back to his house when he saw Phil flirting with a fourth year. They were leaned against a wall and Phil was ‘teaching’ him how to properly use the expelliarmus spell. And by teaching, Dan means holding his hand over a wand and making over the shoulder eye contact. Phil noticed Dan and told the boy that he would return shortly,

            “Dan! Got a date yet?” Phil smirked, knowing that he hadn’t,

            “Yes.” Dan lied, Phil’s smirk darkened,

            “Really?” He asked, alarmed,

            “No. Not really.” Dan laughed, holding the back of his neck,

            “Lying is a sin Mr. Howell!” Phil shrieked femininely,

            “Yes ma’am.” Dan said, feigning remorse, Phil laughed loudly, they walked down the halls together, forgetting about the patient fourth year,

            “Why don’t you just go stag?” Phil questioned,

            “Are you joking? That’s humiliating! My whole house has a date, if I wasn’t the pinnacle of jokes before this, I definitely will be after going to the ball without a date.” Dan explained,

            “Why are you the pinnacle of joke?” Phil asked Dan rolled his eyes,

            “Are you my friend or an O.W.L.? It  doesn’t matter. I’ll get made fun of for being alone.” He says, agitated

            “Okay, okay, what about somebody in you potions class?” Phil asked,

            “Well…there is one girl that I like.” Dan said hesitantly, was he really about to come out to Phil as bi?

            “What’s her name?” Phil asked, unfazed,

            “Lily.” Dan said fondly, thinking about she tucked her long red hair back, but it always ended up in her potion somehow,

            “Lily Potter? As in Harry Potter’s daughter?” Phil asked, eyes widened to the size of a coin,

            “Yes, but she barely knows I exist. It would never work.” Dan dismissed all hope of Lily being with him, she was popular, bubbly, charismatic, and a genius in potions. Dan was the exact opposite,

            “Maybe not, but it’s worth a shot right?” Dan nodded half-heartedly,

            “Hey, what about Louise? Who’s she going with.” Phil inhaled sharply,

            “Lou…she’s not talking to me anymore.” Dan stopped in his tracks,

            “What?! What happened? You guys used to be inseparable!”

            “Yeah I know, but we haven’t spoken since the party. She’s been avoiding me and I don’t know why. I’ve kind of given up on talking to her.” Phil explained,

            “That’s really weird Phil. She’s your best friend. You share a birthday.”

            “I know, but every time I try to talk to her, she looks at me like she doesn’t even know me.” Dan and Phil keep walking, Dan squeezes Phil’s hand to make him feel better, but he doubt that would help much.

 

            Phil and Dan had been talking for hours in the Ravenclaw common room when the door bursts open,

            “Somebody come quickly! There’s an emergency in the girl’s lavatory!” Sandy Robertson said, she was red in the face and her short curls were a mess.

            Phil jumps up and follows her to the girl’s lavatory. Dan followed suite, once they arrived, they saw he emergency. Saia Patel was collapsed on the tile, shaking and foaming at the mouth. Phil recognized her from the Hufflepuff quidditch team. Dan umped forward and got to his knees, checking her pulse. It wasn’t a seizure,

            “She’s been poisoned!” Dan cries out, “Go get Professor Harpendale!” Sandy makes a squealing noise and runs off again,

            “Dan there’s not enough time! Harpendale’s office is four floors down, and that’s assuming he’s even in there!” Phil said, crouched on the other side of Saia’s shaking body,

            “Do you know any spells?” Dan asked,

            “No, it’s not everyday somebody gets poisoned.” Phil says, but knew it was no time to be making jokes,

            “Wait! Defence Against The Dark Arts, remember when Madame Pomffrey came and taught us a lesson on how to treat bodily harm?” Dan said, in a panic,

            “Yeah! She said to use the magic reversal spell. But I don’t know it. That lesson was a year ago!” Dan wiped her mouth with his sleeve, he had turned her head sideways so she wouldn’t choke on her own spit,

               “Er..Uh.. inverso avvelenatomes!” Dan guessed, hoping that it was the right spell. His wand was to Saia’s chest, small tendons of blue magic escape from the tip of his wand, it goes into her body and makes her veins pulse, then she stops shaking.The boy’s relax and sigh. She would be okay. Just then, Professor Harpendale races into the room, he looks from Dan to Saia to Phil,  

              “What happened here?” He asked, shocked,  

              “She was poisoned sir. I used a magic reversal spell. But she still has whatever it was in her body, it’s just not killing her right now.” Dan explained,  

              “Well. I am astounded by your knowledge in healing Mr. Howell, but I am afraid I will have to deduct ten points from Ravenclaw. Use of any advanced spell without first knowing if she really was poisoned it extremely dangerous.” Dan nodded and looked down at Saia,    

            “We should really get her down to the hospital wing.” Phil says, holding Saia’s hand, “She’s ice cold.”            

     Professor Harpendale carries Saia to the hospital wing, along with Sandy. Dan and Phil stay behind.

            “Who d you think poisoned her?” Dan asked, 

             “I’m not sure, but I have a pretty good idea.” Phil says grimly. Things were about to get a lot more lethal at Hogwarts.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> oooooooh, feedback is much appreciated! Thank-you so much for your comments, likes and reads :) I may update again today because I have the day off from classes, so see you soon   
> <3


	10. Chapter Ten (part one)

Chapter Ten

PJ followed a scurrying Mack into Moaning Myrtles bathroom,

“Okay, so we know the potions works, now we just have to add the finnaly ingredient.” Mack said, grinning evilly, 

“What is it?” Suddenly, PJ felt a burn on his hand, he yanked it back,

“Just a bit of blood. Sorry.” Mack said, taking PJ’s hand, the younger boy held his breath, butterflies zoomed around his head like a golden snitch, Mack let go and PJ breathed out unevenly,

“Did I ever tell you how gorgeous you are?” Mack mumbled, so that PJ barely heard, he gulped audibly,

“N-no.” His face felt crimson and hot, Mack was so close that he could hear him breathing through his nose,

“Well you are.” He whispered, running his index finger up and down the younger boy’s forearm. 

PJ lay a hesitant hand on Mack’s cheek and the elder boy’s arm wrapped around his slim waist. In moments, they closed the space between them and PJ’s hands were clasped tightly around his neck. Their lips moved in sync and PJ felt like his lungs were on fire, they broke apart for air and Mack smiled, PJ grinned back widely. 

The spiky haired boy stood back and spoke parceltongue to the sink, it opened and they continued on, brewing the potion for that night. 

***

Dan lay awake on his bed, thinking about the night to come. He had nobody to take, and it was definitely too late to find somebody now. Phil was taking Darius. He announced it the previous night. After a while, Dan threw off the heavy duvet that covered his body, and got dressed. Since the ball was tonight, Dumbledore had given everyone the day off. So instead of the usual uniform, Dan pulled on a Muse t-shirt and a pair of black tight jeans. His shoes remained the same, scuffed Nike trainers. He tried, and failed, to fix his curly mop of hair, and cast a cleaning a spell on himself so he didn’t have to wait in line for the shower.   
Walking out of his dorm was terrible, he got so much teasing from his housemates, it wasn’t even funny. Most of them just picked on him for not having a date, but being the only muggleborn in the house was definitely a contributing factor. However, one thing that they said rung in his mind, ‘Where’s your boyfriend, eh Howell?. He had never thought of Phil as anything more than a friend. But now he was thinking otherwise. Why did he always feel jealous when he saw Phil with other boys? And why had it bothered  
him so much when he knew Phil and Darius slept together? It wasn’t that he was protective, because Dan just wasn’t that type of person. He’s the socially inept, avoids confrontation at every cost, kind of guy.   
Dan trudged down the halls, thinking hard about how he felt about Phil. He knew that if he did like Phil in that way, Phil wouldn’t like him back. They were just different. Phil wanted to be in outer-space, and Dan wanted to stay on Earth. Phil liked The Smiths and Placebo, Dan liked Muse and Lilly Allen. Dan loved horror movies and Phil lived for romantic comedies. Maybe that’s why they would be the perfect fit.   
Dan shook his head, had really just thought that they would be the perfect fit? He had to stop thinking about Phil this way, unless he wanted to completely ruin their friendship. He looked up from the floor and spotted Phil sitting alone, headphones on and a rather thick book in his hand. Dan felt the corners of his mouth tug upward. He walked toward the boy and sat next to him, 

“Hey!” Phil yelled, then blushed, he took of his headphones and apologized,

“Hello, what are you reading?” Dan asked, peering over to see the cover ,

“Running With Scissors.” He responded, grinning,

“Well isn’t that dangerous.” Dan smirks like John Travolta,

“Okay, so should I wear a black tie, or no tie for tonight?” Phil asked, dog-earing his page,

“No tie, you don’t want to risk getting strangled.” Dan said, 

“Good point.” Phil nodded solemnly, “So are you taking Lily?” 

“Er, no. I actually still don’t have a date.” He replied sheepishly, Phil frowned,

“Awe, I feel bad now. I have a date and you don’t. Maybe we can go as a group?” Phil suggested, his inner Hufflepuff coming to light,

“No, no. You and Darius should have a good night alone.” Dan said, 

“Are you sure?” Phil asked, no, Dan thought,

“Yeah of course.” Dan smiled, trying to hide the fact that he was upset. But he had no idea why. He should be happy for Phil, after all he is his friend. So why did Dan feel like he wanted to be more? 

***

Mack stood at the opening of the great hall, where the ball was taking place. There was ear-splitting music coming from nowhere, thank god for magic. PJ stood next him, his little finger wrapped around Mack’s. He looked to the short boy whom he towered over,

“Are you ready?” He asked, PJ bit his lip,

“Yeah. I’m ready.” He nods,

“Okay, so the plan is, you get Phil outside, use magic if you have to, then I will be there, waiting. You come to me and I’ll have the potion ready. Then we can use the imperius curse to make him drink it.” Mack revised,

“What if he has protection from the curse?” PJ wondered nervously, the last thing they need was for Phil to find out what they were trying to do and run off to tattle,

“We’ll find another way to make him.” PJ nodded and squeezed Mack’s finger.   
The older boy disappeared into the crowd and PJ entered the hall. Now all that was left to do was find Phil.

***

Phil buttoned his black shirt to the top, his hands were shaking nervously. Sure, he could date boys all he wanted, but showing people that he was dating a boy still made him jittery. He wasn’t about to let that stop him though, he was going to the ball with an incredibly attractive date and he looked rather fine himself.   
He was making his way to the hall, where he was meeting Darius, when he bumped into Dan,

“Hey!” Phil said, excited to get down to the ball,

“Hey Phil, look I need to tell you something-“ He was cut off by the appearance of Darius. His arm was firmly around Phil’s waist,

“Oh hi! I thought I was meeting you downstairs.” Phil said,

“I just couldn’t wait to see you.” Darius said, making Phil blush, “Who’s this?” 

“Oh, this is Dan, he’s my friend. We were just talking about something.” Darius smiled at Dan, and not one of those fake smiles. A genuine, happy smile. Dan suddenly felt guilty for hating,

“I’ll tell you later.” Dan said to Phil,

“Are you sure?” Phil asked, he wondered if it was something serious,

“Yeah, go have fun you two!” The couple smiled at Dan and walked off, leaving Dan to think.   
He was about to tell Phil of his feelings, but he now knew how happy he was with Darius. He couldn’t do that to Phil, he couldn’t do that to their friendship. He was about to return to his room when he bumped into Chris,

“Hey! Danny, my man, where are you off to?” He asks, Dan shrugs,

“I’m not going to the dance, the guy I wanted to take…he had other plans.” Dan said, 

“Awe, that sucks. Do you really like him that much? You look super bummed.” Chris said, concern on his face,

“Yeah. But he doesn’t like me that way. He probably never will.” Dan said, Chris paused,

“Is it Phil?” Dan nodded, “Dude! He totally likes you. You need to go be with him.” 

“I can’t, he’s got a date. And I’m not dressed for a dance.” Chris takes off his blazer and puts it on Dan’s shoulders,

“Fuck the other date, go tell him how you feel.” Chris said, Dan looked at him and decided Phil was right, there’s no time to waste on being miserable,

“Okay…yeah. Yeah! I gotta go! Thanks Chris!” Chris smiles and Dan runs off.

He reaches the great hall and runs in, scanning the crowd, he doesn’t see Phil anywhere, but he did see Darius. He walked up to them, pushing past people dancing rather inappropriately. Toxic was blaring through the hall, 

“Darius!” Dan yelled over the music, Darius smiled,

“Hey Dan! You came!” Dan nodded, getting right to the point,

“Where’s Phil? It’s an emergency.” Dan yelled, 

“Oh! He went outside with his friend to get some air.” Dan assumed it was Louise, 

“Oh good, I’m glad Lou and him are talking again.” Darius gave him a puzzled look,

“No, not Louise. His name was Peter I think…” Dan stomach plummeted,

“PJ?” He asked, Darius nodded,  
“Yeah that’s him!” Dan thanked Darius and sprinted at top speed outside, he couldn’t see Phil nor PJ anywhere. Great.


	11. Chapter Ten (part two)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> sorry guys :(  
> WARNING: homophobic slurs + violence

Chapter Ten (part two)

 

            PJ stood over Phil’s shaking body, grinning with malice. They had given him a few hits to weaken him and now he lay in a bloody mess in the grass,

            “Had enough yet Phil?” Mack said, cackling into the cold night’s air,

 

            “P-please, let me go.” Phil begged, ignoring the blood from his nose dripping into his mouth,

            “No! You’re going to pay!” PJ yelled into his face, taking out his dark wooded wand, he tried to cast the imperius curse, but as they had guessed, he was protected,

            “You’re going to drink this.” Mack said, handing Phil a vile of the poison,

            “N-no.” Phil said defiantly, earning a new slice to his cheek thanks to PJ’s wand,

            “Fine. I guess I’m going to have to force you.” Mack said, giving Phil a mad grin.

***

            Dan tripped on rocks as he ran through the forbidden forest, he couldn’t find them anywhere. He called Phil’s name several times but there was no response. He tried appirating but he couldn’t. He guessed Dumbledore had fixed the loophole. Great timing. He continued pushing branches out of the way, the gnarly faces of trees stared back at him but he ignored their stares, he needed to find Phil. He didn’t know what PJ was planning.

***

            “So, how are we going to do this Philip?” Asked Mack, waving his wand around,

            “C’mon Macky, let’s just kill him!” PJ whined, pointing his wand at Phil,

            “No! The curse is no use. I want him to feel every inch of his body burn until he finally dies. I want him to pay.” PJ seemed drunk on power, he laughed along with Mack.

            PJ walked forward and tried to force Phil’s mouth open. But his jaw stayed clenched, so tightly that his mouth became sore. PJ slapped him in frustration. Mack leaned over to him,

            “Oh Phil, Phil, Phil, Phil. You really are a useless faggot. Just like your father tells you.” Phil looked into Mack’s cold eyes,

            “Shut-up!” Phil spits in Mack’s face,

            “Careful now. We don’t want anyone to get hurt. I wonder how Dan would feel if he knew PJ were to say…have an accident…because of you.” Fear flashed in Phil’s eyes and Mack caught it, “Ah, there’s your weak spot.”

Mack walked over back to PJ, he kissed him on the lips, wrapping his arms around his neck. In one fluid motion, he turns PJ around and holds a pocket knife to his neck,

            “Drink the potion Phil!” Mack screamed, PJ was scared, but the more he struggled, the closer the knife came to his neck. Phil unscrews the cap to the vile, he doesn’t drink yet,

            “Who’s it going to be Phil? You, or him?” PJ looks to Phil with pleading eyes,

            “Fine.” Phil said, he tipped the vile and drank it’s contents, it felt like drinking fire, “Now let him go.” He said, gritting his teeth, Mack smiles and slits PJ’s throat,

            “NO!” Phil screams at the top of his lungs, PJ collapses face first into the grass, a staggering Dan emerges from the forest,

            “Phil?!” He shouted, running to the scene, Mack dissapirates. The potion starts to take effect, Phil’s body burns all over and his vision becomes hazy,

            “P-PJ.” He said, Dan looks to PJ and cups a hand over his mouth,

            “P-Phil we have to get you to a hospital.” Dan tries to pick Phil up, but he pushes Dan away weakly,

            “PJ first.” He says drowsily, the potion spreading through his body, it felt like he was being stabbed in his fingertips and he had lost complete feeling of his legs,

            “Fine.” Dan breathed, he walked over to PJ, bursting into tears. He hauls the limp, bloody body over to Phil and holds them both tightly. He casts a levitation spell to both of them and runs full throttle. He had to save them. They couldn’t die, they just couldn’t.

***

            When Dan arrived to the hospital wing, Madame Pomffrey was in a frenzy, clearing everyone out and putting PJ on a cold metal table, she cast a spell to stop the breathing and added an herb scrub to close the wounds,

            “So he’ll be okay?” Dan asked, panicked,

            “I’m afraid not dear.” She said, frowning deeply,

            “What do you mean?” He asked, tears rolling down his cheeks,

            “Mr. Ligouri is…he’s dead.” She said. Dan’s face crumpled, remembering the last time he ever spoke to PJ, remembering everything they ever did together,

            “Thank-you for trying.” Dan said to her, then turned. One of his only friends, was dead. He was only 16. Dan imagined the looks on PJ’s parent’s faces.

He walked away from the metal table while Madame P. wrote down the time and cause of death. He laid eyes on Phil, who was unconscious in a hospital bed. He had taken some kind of poison, Professor Sprout and Professor Harpendale were working together to find an antidote, and what kind of poison it was.

Dan exited the hospital wing, his face hurt from crying, and it still hadn’t stopped, on his way back to Ravenclaw tower, he bumped into Chris,

            “Dan? Danny what’s wrong?” He asked, sitting him down on a nearby bench,

            “PJ…PJ is d-d-dead.” Dan sobbed, Chris sat back, frozen. He didn’t cry, he just sat, paralyzed, Chris hadn’t said a word for a few minutes, when he finally spoke,

            “It’s what he wanted.” Dan looked at Chris through salty tears,

            “What are y-you talking about?” Chris starts crying,

            “Before we broke up, PJ told me we can’t be together, because…” Dan looks at him, confused more than ever before, “He said it was because he was going to kill himself.”

Dan breathed out,

            “He didn’t kill himself. He was murdered, Chris.”  Chris looked puzzled, brows knit nearly completely together,

            “Who?! Who killed him!” He shouted, standing up,

            “I don’t know! The same guy that poisoned Phil!” Chris held his breath,

            “Phil’s been poisoned?” Dan nods sadly, “Is there an antidote?”

            “We don’t know yet. They’re trying to figure out what potion it was.” Dan responded, now all there was to do, was wait.


	12. Chapter Eleven

Chapter 11

It had been nearly a week since Hogwarts closed down. Phil had been transferred to the wizarding hospital the night Dan brought him to the infirmary. He was losing his mind, he hadn’t seen Phil nor Chris since that night. The ministry was keeping tabs on Dan since he was the one who had found the bodies.   
The hollow November air nipped at Dan’s uncovered arms, he was out getting the mail from the box. He was forbidden to use his owl, the murderer could track it down. He went through the letter, it seemed like the usual, bills for his parents and flyers. Something caught his eyes at the bottom of the pile. It was a lavender coloured envelope, with spirals and butterflies written into the paper. In elegant, small writing, there was Dan’s name and address, but no return address. That’s strange, he thought, there weren’t any stamps either. Dan returned to his room and looked at the letter. It had a sparkling gold seal with the letter HGW. He thought it could be Hogwarts, but it wasn’t the type of envelope they would send. He quickly opened the seal, inside was a piece of parchment. Dan gingerly took it from the envelope and unfolded it, on it was a letter from Saia.   
Dear Dan,  
Thank-you for saving my life, I’m sorry I couldn’t do this in person, I am eternally grateful for what you have done for me and my family. Wishing you well,  
-Saia  
He smiled at the note, but noticed something etched into the back of the paper,  
Dan, it’s Chris. Come to Hogwarts tonight. Dumbledore has a plan.  
Dan’s heartbeat quickened. Chris must not have been able to write to him, that’s why he sent the note on Saia’s letter. He raced around his room, throwing everything he think he would need together. Dumbledore has a plan. A plan that could involve saving Phil.   
He grabbed his charmed bag, and threw everything inside. Opening his cabinet, he took out his firebolt. If he wanted to get there tonight he would have to leave now. He didn’t care about the risks that he was taking, he had to save his best-friend.   
***  
Dan’s hair flops in the wind, his skin feels as if it were engulfed in flames but he doesn’t care. He doesn’t care that he left home without explaining himself, he simply left a note. The water beneath him churns at it’s own accord and he can faintly see the outline of mermaids in the cold waves. He smiles, he is very close to the castle now. He flew over the quidditch pitch and flies through one of the hoops. The flags were still raised, despite the closing of the school. He was nearing the entrance. He lands his broom and hops off, bounding into the front doors. At least he wished it was that easy. The same second he reached for the handle, he was stunned. Three professors ran to the scene and gasped,   
“Daniel Howell! What on earth are you doing here?!” Professor Harpendale cried, helping Dan to his feet,  
“Sir, I’m sorry, I got a note from Chris saying to come here.” Dan replied, from behind the wall of teachers, Chris emerged from the school,  
“Danny!” Chris ran forward and hugged Dan,  
“Chris! It’s so good to see you again!” Dan hugged him back and the teachers sighed,  
“Mr. Howell, it was extremely reckless of you-“   
“Save it, Professor, I gave Chri permission. We need him here.” Dumbledore said,   
“Albus! First with the Potter boy, now with him? You must stop putting students at risk!” McGonagall shrieks, shielding Dan with her cloak,  
“With all due respect Minerva, he is the only person that Mr. Lester has got.” Dumbledore says, pulling Dan and Chris along with him to his office.  
They sat down and awkwardly played with their thumbs,  
“So boys, are you ready for an adventure?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> super short, but i'm updating tmrw


	13. Chapter Twelve

Chapter Twelve

 

            Dan and Chris sat idly, watching as Dumbledore thought about how he was going to word this,

            “Okay, so. Doctor Granger and multiple professors at this school have been working on Phil’s condition and, with sleepless nights, we found out that he was poisoned with a very rare potion, it’s name has been lost in translation, but what we call it today is the Fritz potion, because the man who created it was Alexanderous Fritz.” Dumbledore looks to the boys to see any sign of recognition but their faces are blank, “Anyhow, there is an antidote.” Dan sat straighter in his chair,

            “Brilliant, let’s give it to him!” He said, eager,

            “That’ the problem. Since the potion is so rare, the antidote is even rarer, the ingredients are nearly impossible to find.” Dumbledore said, Chris is now sat up as well,

            “Nearly.” The Gryffindor says, a mischievous grin spread on his face,

            “If you’re up for it, I can tell you the components needed. But in order for the counter potion to be pure, I mustn’t tell you how to get the items exactly.” Albus says, looking at the teenagers over the rim of his crescent moon glasses,

            “Of course! Tell us, we’ll start today!” Chris said, Dan nodded along,

            “Are you sure? There will be tests along the way. This will not be easy.” Dumbledore said, eyeing the boys with uncertainty,

            “Professor, you have to let us do this, even just me if that’s what it takes. I can’t lose my best friend.” Dan pleaded,

            “As you wish.” Dumbledore replies, he hands Dan and Chris a peive of parchment, meticulous writing on it;

\- The Hair Of Death

\- A Sword Of Purity

\- Heart as a Giant

And then Dumbledore disappeared. Dan  looked to Chris quizzically, they both had a feeling that this was going to take a lot longer than they both expected.

***

            Dan sat around the fireplace in the Gryffindor common room with Chris and Chris’s pet cat, Hasain. Hasian’s sleek black body curled around Dan’s leg and he rubbed is pointy face against his ankle,

            “What do you think ‘The Hair Of Death’ means?” Dan asked, Chris shrugged, flipping through an ancient potions book they had found in the restricted section,

            “Think of rare hairs, like a unicorn hair, stuff like that.” Chris said, brows furrowed whilst he was trying to make out the faded script on the pages beneath him,

            “What about dementors? Maybe it has something to do with them…” Dan speculated, Chris shook his head,

            “Dementors don’t have hair.” He concluded, Dan petted Hassain on the head and he purred satisfyingly,

            “What’s a creature of death.” Dan says, throwing crumpled ideas into the fire,

            “That’s it!” Chris leapt to his feet, pointing at something in his book, Dan peered over his shoulder, his jaw dropped,

            “Thestral hair? How are we supposed to find that!” Dan sighs, leaning against the edge of the mantel,

            “Have you seen any death recently?” Chris asked,

            “No. Not straight up anyway, I would’ve seen them in the forest when I got here.” Dan explained, Chris sat back down, holding his head in his hands, “Look, I know it’s a long shot, but what about the Elder Wand?”

            “What about it?” Dan asked,

            “It was the only wand with thestral hair in it.” Chris elaborated,

            “Yes, but it was destroyed in the war.” Dan said,

            “Well…some people believe that it was thrown over the bridge by Harry Potter. Maybe it’s down there somewhere.” Chris said, Dan scoffed,

            “As if. Even if that were the story, if somebody hasn’t already found it, then what are our chances?” Chris grins at him, he reaches in his pocket and throws  a small onyx box at him, “What’s this?”  
           

            “That is my new invention. You know how you can’t accio certain things? Like horcuxes for example? Well that right there, leads you to whatever you want to find. Like a magic compass.” Chris explains, Dan moves the box around, seeing small flakes of unidentified stone through the stone from the flames of the fire,

            “Okay. We start looking first thing tomorrow morning. It might not work, but anything is worth trying once.” Dan said, putting out the fire,

            “Maybe not bondage…” Chris trailed, there was the guy Dan knew. Dan rolls his eyes and walks up to the dorms.

He falls asleep nearly instantly, his eyelids felt like there were weights attached to them. Dan dreamt of stars, and a certain blue eyed boy.

***

            Chris awoke with a start, Dan was pulling him out of bed by the toes, he knew Dan would be eager, but it was 5:30 in the morning,

            “Dan! Calm your tits, I’m getting up.” Chris groaned, throwing a stray pillow in Dan’s direction, he heard some incoherent mumbling and Hassain’s familiar mewl.

            Leaning on one elbow, Chris flung the duvet off of his body, the cold near-winter air made him want to shrivel up and die, but he powered through. He put on some heavy pants and a hoodie, over a long sleeve shirt. His boots were making him sweat indoors, but he knew that it would not be the same story under the bridge. Dan popped his head around the door to see if Chris was ready, Chris nodded and grabbed the onyx box off of his nightstand.

 

            Dan had taken two brooms from the quidditch storage room and they flew underneath the bridge, large cavernous holes roared at them. It was terrifying, there seemed to be no end to the cracks in the ground. There was barely any clear ground at all. Dan found a clear patch, there was a large and flat rock that they sat on,     

            “Okay, so turn it on or something. We can start looking here.” Dan sheepishly said, yawing at the end of the sentence,

            “Alright.” He pushes on the head of the stone, it expands outward and there’s an array of blue lights that pulse out and scatter around them, Chris closes his eyes for a few seconds, though they were only seconds, they moved painfully long for Dan.

His eyes flew open, as did the lights, they whizzed around fissures in the rock and the two had to get back on their brooms to catch up, but they were slowing down. Once all of the lights came to an edge, almost like a cliff. They stopped, then started to travel down. Dan got off of his broom and cautiously made his way to the end of the cliff. The lights were hovering slightly over a small opening. The brown eyed boy squints, then shrugs his shoulders forward,

            “There’s nothing there Chris.” He says, disappointed,

            “Maybe there is, maybe you aren’t looking hard enough…” Chris said, looking over the edge himself,

            “You think I’m not looking hard enough? You know how much this means to me.” Dan snapped,

            “I know Dan.” Chris breathed, trying to see any possible way to get down to where the lights are,

            “Well then why don’t you just admit that your bloody rock doesn’t work!” Dan exclaimed, face red,

            “Calm down Dan, honestly, you’re being melodramatic.” Chris says calmly, getting up form his place on the edge,

            “Melodramatic?! The one guy who cares about me, and who I care about, could die if we don’t get this! I don’t have time to waste!” Dan says, throwing his hands abou in frustration,

            “Dan, we’ve been looking for a day. It can take ages.” Chris explained, but he was beginning to get irritated,

            “Phil could die by then.” Dan said, as if Chris were acting thick,

            “Yeah well my guy is already dead so consider yourself lucky.” Chris bit back, Dan’s frustration melted away, it was replaced by hurt.

He ignored Chris’s comment, and started to scale the cliff wall,

            “Dan what are you doing!?” Chris shrieked,

            “I’m going to see if it’s in here!” Dan grunted, looking under him at the dull blue light,

            “Dan you’re crazy.” Chris breathes, getting his wand ready.

Dan shoves his foot into a small crevice and looks into the opening that the lights had stopped at,

            “You’ve got to be fucking kidding me.”

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> yikes! Feedback is much appreciated, I really do want to know what you readers think of my work. Sorry for the....CLIFFHANGER  
> i'll let myself out.   
> update tmrw <3


	14. Chapter Thirteen

 

Chapter Thirteen

 

            The stony hole stares back at Dan’s unbelieving brown eyes. His jaw is practically unhinged, there in front of his pale skin was a cracked wand, surrounded by a pale silvery blue dust. There were sheer clippings, they looked almost like smoke compared to what Dan was used to. Thestral hairs. Dan grabbed a fistful, shoving them in his pocket and began his ascent. His toes were aching with every step against gravity, his fingertips bloodied by the rocks, but he paid no mind. Dan climbed and climbed, eyes fixed on Chris’s hand reaching out to help him, he reached forward, fingers curled around his chapped knuckles.

Dan tries to pull himself up, his arm is over the surface of the gritty cliff,

 

            “Chris, pull me up.” His voice strained, Chris grips his hands and pulls with all of his might, Dan heaved.

 

            His brain caught up a little too late, his foot had slipped out of it’s hold. He was plunging to his inevitable death. Chris’s face distorts into a scream, he scrambled for his wand,

 

            “WINGARDIUM LEVIOSA!” He shrieks, Dan begins to float in the air, turning around, he had forgotten that he had the hairs in his pocket. They slipped out and fell into the abyss,

 

            “No!” Dan cried, reaching for the hairs but had no success. He was landed onto the gravelly surface, tears fell from his eyes like a man from the Eiffel tower ,

           

            “Chris! Chris we lost them…” Dan said to the confused boy above him,

 

            “Dan…you’ve got some in your hand…Dan calm down.” Chris said, taking the few hairs he had grabbed in his hurry,

           

            “I-I saved them?” Dan said, through sobs,        

 

            “Yes, yes Dan we’ve got them. We can bring them to Dumbledore.” Chris said, taking the hairs from Dan.

 

            He pulled himself together, wiping his wet eyes and he and Chris returned to the castle. They ran up the spiraling staircases, to the headmasters office, Dan smiled as widely as physically possible,

 

            “I thought I dropped them! But I didn’t I caught them!” Dan laughed at how elated he was,

            “Dan we figured that riddle out! We can surely figure out the rest!” Chris said excitedly,

 

            “Yeah!” Dan agreed, they came to the door of Dumbledore’s office and it opened as if he were expecting them,

 

            “I see that you two have figured out the first riddle!” Dumbledore says, a toothy grin spread across his face,

           

            “We did sir, we have the first ingredient here sir.” Chris says, handing over the hairs,

 

            “Here,” The professor says, taking out a cauldron from under his bureau, “Put it in here.”

 

They put the hairs in the cauldron and it made a burning noise,

 

            “That’s it?” Dan asked, confused,

           

            “Surely, Mr. Howell, you don’t think it will be ready after one component is added?” Dan blushed,

 

            “Of course not sir.” He replied, embarrassed. Chris and him filed out of the office and returned to the Gryffindor common room to try and crack the rest of the riddles.

 

***

            It was nearly Christmas Eve, Chris and Dan had no luck with the riddles, and they were forbidden to ask for help. So they sat around fires and spent long nights trying to unravel what the next things on the list were supposed to mean. They had given up entirely on ‘A Sword Of Purity’ for the time being, and were now looking into ‘Heart as a Giant’. The first task seemed simple compared to all of the books they had taken from the restricted section, and the journey off of that cliff. Chris was half asleep, slaved over a six thousand page book, when Dan got a burst of energy,

           

            “Chris!” He whisper-yelled, not wanting to wake a fussy Hassain,

 

            “What?” He mumbled,

           

            “Let’s go to Hogsmeade.” He said, nuzzling his chin in the crook of his elbow, which was resting on the arm of a red leather couch,

 

            “Now? It’s not even eight in the morning yet.” Chris seemed more alert now,

 

            “Yeah, why not? There’s probably nobody in the shops at this time.” Dan said, wanting to take a break from all of the brain power,

 

            “Shouldn’t we be working to solve these riddles?” Chris asks, confused at Dan’s sudden change of heart, wasn’t it him that was so adamant to look day and night?

 

            “I think we deserve a little fun, don’t you? I know Phil wouldn’t mind if we just popped round to Honeydukes, for an hour or two.” Chris grinned,

 

            “Yeah okay, get your coat.” Dan smiled and ran off, grabbing his winter clothes and pulling them on. Chris was doing the same and soon enough, they were ready.

 

 

            Stepping into some light snow, the boys started the walk to Hogsmeade. They laughed and stumbled on their way to the town, finally they reached the entrance. Dan walked around, remembering when he and Phil were wandering these streets, it seemed like years ago that they had done that. It felt like forever since Phil was awake. He shook it off, he knew that him and Chris would crack the riddles, they had to. Chris snapped Dan from his thoughts,

           

            “Let’s go buy some sweets.” He says, grabbing some gold from his pocket, Dan nods and smiles.

 

The small tin bell rings as they enter the shop. The comforting smell of chocolate warms the boy’s cheeks and they smile at the till keeper. Walking around, they pick out a few things, nothing that Chris’s gold can’t cover. Chris held up a funny mask that was on display, Dan laughed and they continued to look around, suddenly they noticed a new type of candy that had been added,

 

            “That’s awful…” Dan said, looking at the inherently racist treat,

 

            “Why would Honeydukes allow this?” Chris wondered, picking up a box of them, it was labelled ‘Giant Card’. It was like a chocolate frog but with a giant that wizards had managed to kill. You were supposed to collect them all,

 

            “Let’s just pay then go.” Dan whispered, shaken. He thought the prejudice against giants were over, Chris nodded slightly and they bought their licorice wands and chocolates.

 

            Walking back to the castle was far less lively, both teenagers were submerged in thought. Dan knew that the uprisings against the new law were a problem, but he didn’t think they would make something this bold. After the wizarding war, the ministry created a law that nobody shall hunt or harm giants, as gratitude for their assistance against Voldemort. Purebloods were not happy, they didn’t want anything different around, especially since giants and wizards were living harmoniously, even getting married. Dan felt bad, Chris was a pureblood, though he wasn’t racist, everyone thinks he is.

 

            “Dan, do you think that the uprisings will get worse? What if there’s another war?” Chris wonders, nervously,

 

            “There won’t be. The ministry is doing all they can to protect the giants. Even centaurs are taking them onto their grounds for protection. They aren’t the smartest lot, but they know to hide.” Dan says, Chris nods,

 

            “Yeah you’re right, it hasn’t even been that long since the last war.” They fell into more silence, until Chris stopped in his tracks,

 

            “Dan…Do you think that, a heart as a giant…could actually be…the heart of a giant?” Dan’s eyebrows knit together,

 

            “Surely not. We can’t get one of those anyway.” He reasoned, but the more he thought about it, the more it seemed to make sense,

 

            “What if it is? Dumbledore said this potion was rare, it’s probably ancient too. I’d be surprised if the creator wasn’t racist against other breeds.” Chris said, Dan didn’t want to believe what Chris was saying, but it seemed to be the only reasonable explanation,

 

            “What are we going to do? We can’t just go up to a giant and ask for their heart.” Dan said satirically,

 

            “No. We have to…we have to kill one.”

 

 

 

           

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> yo! i'm on spring break, finally! so that means a lot more writing (And a lot more netflix binges) feedback is great, tell me what you want to happen/what you think will happen. Will Chris and Dan sacrifice their morals to save Phil? you will soon find out. <3


	15. Chapter Fourteen

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> lots of swearing and noncon mention in this one, so yeah i'll write a summary at the end of the chapter if you don't feel comfortable reading :)

Chapter Fourteen

 

            Dan had been toying with the thought of killing a giant. He talked to professor Hagrid about it, he was after all, half giant,

 

            “Well Dan, it sounds like a pickle you’re in. I would give you my heart, but I kind of need it.” Hagrid said, Dan nodded,

 

            “I just…I want to save Phil but I don’t want to kill anyone, or anything.” Dan said, conflicted,

 

            “Well you know Dan, not everything can stay alive in order to keep someone from dying. It’s not pleasant, but you’ve got to do what you can to keep your friend alive.” Hagrid said, giving his piece of mind, Dan nodded.

People thought Hagrid was only good for care of magical creatures, but he was truly, very smart,

 

            “I think that, maybe if one of the giants attack us, then we can kill it in self defense. Right? Or maybe we can just take a piece of it’s heart?” Dan tried to reason with murder, it wasn’t going so well. Hagrid shrugged, and scanned the pasture out his window,

 

            “You best be on your way, I’ll walk you back. Don’t want to be out after dark with a murderer on the loose.” Hagrid said, making a scared expression, Dan smiled at him and they returned to the school.

 

            ***

                        Chris was fast asleep that night, with Christmas on the horizon, they had to get as much work in before returning to their families for the holiday. Though Dan scarcely remembers celebrating, he knew his mum would at least want him home. There were dozens upon dozens of books and journals, stacked meticulously around the boy’s makeshift beds in the common room. Dan decided to crack open one of them, on ancient potion philosophy. His head started to bob to sleep on a particularly long page on why wizards use potions, when he heard a crash. He shook Chris awake, nervous,

            “What?” Chris asked, groggy and irritated,

            “Where’s Hassain?” Dan asked, a soft mewl came from under Chris’s blanket, Hassain’s triangular head poked out from the quilt and yawns baring his pointy yellowed teeth,

            “Right here. Why?” Dan set a fire in the pit and grabbed his wand,

            “I heard something. A crash.” Chris sat up, grabbing his wand from under his pillow, The boys stood back to back, searching the corners of the room for what could have caused the noise, Dan’s heart rate was dangerously irregular,

            “Are you sure you heard something?” Chris asked, he was scared too,

            “Positive.” Dan gulped, what if it was PJ’s murderer?

Suddenly, they heard heavy footsteps. Falling from the staircase that lead to the actual dorms. Dan pointed his want, a hex ready on his lips, Hassain hissed, but then whimpered and hid under an abandoned wardrobe. The noisemaker revealed itself, or more himself. Greasy spikes of black hair, and a sharp featured face stare sickeningly at the two boys, who were quaking in their socks. Mack grinned evilly, there were several slashes on his face, but he didn’t seem to notice. He walked forward to Dan, lifting a menacing, oak wood wand. His perfectly pointed teeth were bared in a snarl,

            “I hear you’re trying to save poor, young Philip.” Mack laughs at Dan’s boiling, angry face, he wondered if anyone could tell the redness of his face over the glow of the fire,

            “That’s right. And we’re going to succeed.” Dan said through  clenched teeth, the desperation to strike the older boy in front of him was plain to see, but he didn’t want to give Mack any reason to hurt anyone else,

            “That’s not going to work you know. The more you try to save him, the more I’ll try to kill him. I do know where he is right now. Sleeping, vulnerable. It would be the perfect time to pay him…a visit. Yes, it has been quite a while since I’ve had a taste of Phil. Of course you wouldn’t mind, would you Dan?” Chris shot Dan a confused glance, he probably had no idea who Mack even was, but Dan did. And what he was implying was something that made Dan feel not so iffy about murder,

            “Don’t you dare touch him! I’ll kill you if you go near him!” Dan screamed, Chris was taken aback but got a drift that Mack wasn’t a good guy,

            “Just like how I killed PJ?” Mack said, smirking, it was Chris’s turn to be angry,

            “It was you?! You killed my boyfriend!” Chris cried,

            “Well when I fucked him over a potions table, it didn’t really tell me you were his boyfriend.” Mack said offhandedly,

            “Fuck you. GET OUT!” Chris screamed, tears streaming down his face, Mack leant forward, laying a hand on Chris’s back,

            “Would you like that? If I fucked you?” Mack teased, Chris spat in his face, Mack punched him and he fell over into a mound of blanket, the fire pit was a near miss.

He jumped up, Mack pushed him down again by kicking him then punched his face until his knuckles bled. While he was distracted, Dan thought of the worst spell he knew, besides any of the unforgiveable. Mack turned around once Chris had begged him to stop,

            “Your turn Dan.” He said, smiling psychotically, Dan pushed his wand up, and before Mack could react he uttered two words,

            “Sectum Sempra.” He said, weakly. Mack’s face grimaced and was about to utter a curse but he was too busy bleeding out onto the floor.

Chris says something, but the ringing in Dan’s ear blocks it out,

            “We need to get a teacher.” He whispers, as if telling himself that more than his friend who was bloodied up pretty badly as well as Mack, who was crying on the floor, twitching and taking short breaths of air.

Chris stands unevenly, and walks out of the common room. Not worrying about ‘the murderer’ any longer at this hour of the night. Dan sat on a couch, and watched as Hassain creeped up to Mack, lapping up some of the crimson that had stained the floors. Gross, Dan thought. A tired looking McGonagall enters the room and stared in shock at Mack’s body,

            “He murdered PJ ma’am. He was beating Chris.” Dan half-explained, she nodded and stopped his bleeding, using a spell, she appirated to what Dan could only assume to be the hospital wing,

            “So… that’s the bastard that killed PJ.” Chris said, nursing his bruised jaw,

            “And gave Phil a hard time, before this. Before all of it.” Dan said, Chris now knew some of what Phil had kept secret for so long.

The boys sat in silence, beside the crackling of the fire. Even though the murderer had been captured, the couldn’t sleep for the rest of the night. Unsettled by the thought of him being caught. Irony was Dan’s best friend it seemed.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> sorry for not writing Hagrids accent, but i couldn't be bothered lol im lazyyyy
> 
> summary: Dan talks to Hagrid about killing giants, Hagrid said he will have to make sacrifices to keep phil alive. That night, Dan hears a noise, it's Mack. Mack confesses to murdering PJ, chris gets angry and spits on him, Mack starts to beat him up. Dan uses sectum sempra on him. Chris gets minerva and they take him away. 
> 
> update tmrw <3


	16. Chapter Fifteen

Chapter Fifteen

 

            The majority of the following week was spent in courtrooms, rehashing statements and more legal talk than Dan could handle. Mack was facing charges for illegal magic, battery and murder. Chris had to relive the moments of his encounter with the black haired boy, eager to get him locked up. But nothing could have prepared the boys for what the judge had to say,

 

            “After days of careful calculations, the supreme magical justice board has decided on December thirtieth, 2014, that Mackal Billius Centforth has been sentenced to eighty nine year sentence to Azkaban prison.” He pelted his gavel onto a small square of wood on his pedestal and witches and wizards filed out of the room, wearing long robes.

            Dan looked at the detainment cage Mack stood in, spikes to his neck. He was crying, screaming profanities at everyone who walked by. Chris squeezed Dan’s hand, as if to comfort him. Thanks to them, Mack was facing the rest of his natural life in Azkaban. A small voice in Dan’s mind tells him that he deserved it, but he just wished that Phil could have been there to see his abuser finally locked up.

            The boys didn’t care that they had missed Christmas, nothing seemed the same without Phil or PJ there anyway. They both wondered what would happen with school, after all there was no murderer on the loose. All would be revealed back at the castle, but first, Dan wanted to visit Phil.

 

***

            The floo powder left a musty smell on Dan’s clothes, but he didn’t pay any mind. He stepped forward into the immaculate hospital, nurses were curing patients on the spot in the clinic, but Dan need to get to the Intensive Magical Care Unit. He asked for help, a nurse with billowing red hair led him down a circular corridor, perspective shifted and suddenly they were on the second floor. There were dozens of closed doors, the nurse lead him to the final room on the left and disappeared. Dan pushed the door open lightly, Phil was laying still on a hospital bed, his chest being moved up and down by an array of crystals and fairy dust, Dan sighed. He sat down on a chair next to the bed and held Phil’s hand. This was probably the most intimate they had ever been, and Phil wasn’t even awake. He was breathing, his heart was beating, but Dan had to accept the fact that he wasn’t really alive. He brushes Phil’s hair out of his eyes, his natural colour was starting to show. Dan frowned, all the things that he knew Phil wouldn’t like. Dan decided to talk,

 

            “We’re helping you, Chris and I have started tracking down the ingredients for the antidote. Also Mack got locked up this morning…I thought…I thought I should tell you that.” Dan said awkwardly, he felt strange and alone, even though his best friend was right there,

            “You’re going to get better.” Dan said firmly, more for his sake than for Phil’s, but he would never admit that.

 

Dan left the hospital. He couldn’t stand the sight of Phil, pale and malnourished. They were only giving him the minimum. He can’t even look at the stars at night, does he know what’s happened to him? Dan wonders. He shakes his head, he needs to find the ingredients, and he wasn’t going to let anyone stand in his way.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> heyo, just kind of a filler chapter, thanks for the feedback! also i hope you're liking the little oneshots i post when im late updating this. Anyway, have a good day/night <3


	17. Chapter Sixteen

Chapter Sixteen

Strong winds blew against the castle windows, snow swirling in the air and fire crackling as loud as a bone’s snap. Chris was in his room, sleeping. Dan was wide awake, staring at the fire in the hearth beneath him. He had decided. He is going to kill a giant.

The morning crept up over the uneven mountains, Dan hopped off of the couch where he had slept the previous night. There were unexpected guests there to greet him.   
Nearly Headless Nick (Sir Nicholas) and Peeves sat on the floor in front of his face,

“Ah!” Dan screamed, 

“Sorry Daniel, but Dumbledore sent us to get you, said it was important.” Peeves nodded his head vigorously, seemingly full of pride that Dumbledore himself had sent him personally on a mission. Dan nodded and the mostly friendly ghosts floated off through the walls. 

He got dressed quickly and left the Gryffindor common room. If you had told Dan that he would be spending so much time in somebody else’s house at the beginning of the year, he would’ve called you mad and buggered off. But he had been sleeping in the common room ever since he returned from the week at home. The paintings seemed calm for once, most likely the cause of the newest admittance to Azkaban. Dan was almost to Dumbledore’s office when the headmaster stopped him in the corridor,

“Dan! Dan you must come quickly.” His heart plummeted, was something wrong with Phil? Had he died? He rushed along with Dumbledore until they reached the great hall. 

They pushed open the huge doors and inside was none other than Hagrid. Dan wondered if this was a joke, but nobody seemed to be laughing. Hagrid had tears in his eyes, but he was smiling at Dan through a grey turned beard,

“My half-sister died this morning.” Hagrid sniffled, Dan frowned and walked forward, awkwardly caressing Hagrid’s giant arms, “Dumbledore was thinking…since you’re needing a giant’s heart…you could use hers.” 

“Hagrid no…we can’t just take her-“ Hagrid shook his head,

“Dan, we’ve discussed it and it wouldn’t be messy or inhumane.” Dumbledore vouched, Dan couldn’t believe his headmaster was all for cutting out a giant’s heart,

“If you’re sure…” He didn’t feel like objecting to an easy way to save Phil, Hagrid nodded, wiping away a few tears, Dumbledore jumped like a rabbit and nearly knocked Dan over,

“Okay, Dan we will add it to the cauldron for you. So that is one element down, one more to go.” Dumbledore seemed to be treating this like a game, it set Dan on edge, if he could be that aloof about cutting someone’s heart out, how can he trust him when Phil’s life is in the balance? Dan walked out of the great hall, feeling dejected. It was strange when the adults intervened, it reminded him of that constant instilling power that the teachers had over them, even though school wasn’t actually in session. He could wait to tell Chris, how could it be that simple?

***

Chris was delighted with the news, 

“Well then that means we’ve only got one more thing to get! It’s perfect Dan we’re so close to saving him!” Chris said, bursting in smiles. 

Dan had a fantasy in his head, one that he knew would never happen. PJ, him, Chris and Phil all sat together at school, exchanging homework. He wanted PJ to be happy, but he died thinking that Dan hated him. He could still feel his hand on PJ’s face when he slapped him. He tried not to think about it, but Dan felt awful about how they ended things. He never wanted to have a fight with anyone ever again, because nowadays it felt like everything could be swept up from under your feet before you could even blink,

“Yeah I’m really happy about it. But… it seems too simple. Hagrid just happens to have a half-sister who was a giant, and he just so happens to want to let Dumbledore cut out her heart. It’s too easy.” Chris sighs,

“Dan, not everything has to be hard, you know? It’s just convenient. I wouldn’t complain.” He told his friend, after all, not everything had to be so complicated did it? 

Hours later, Dan was trying to solve the third and final riddle, with no such luck. He started to pick apart the words, since the Hairs of Death were so literal, maybe this one would be too. A sword of purity, could just as well be the sword of Gryffindor. Dan knew in his heart that it most likely wasn’t though, how could they use the sword of Gryffindor in a potion? He pet Chris’s cat mindlessly, his mind wandering to thoughts and memories of Phil, and surprisingly one of his wizard history classes. Dan missed the times where all he had to worry about was getting better at potions and showing up to classes on time. He hated how things were these days, his best-friend is dying, his ex-boyfriend is dead, his only friend left is merely an acquaintance. Dan felt bad for feeling sorry for himself, he was sure that Harry Potter never felt this way and he had a much worse end of the stick.

Hassain was nestled in a ball on the end of one of the leather couches. How was Dan meant to figure out this riddle? He was a Ravenclaw, but he wasn’t that amazing. He told himself to calm down, that they had already found the answer behind the other two. He could do this, Dan told himself. Nodding with reassurance, he cracks open yet another book, looking under key words ‘Sword’ and ‘Purity’. The last thing he remembers before blacking out, was the smell of the fire and the black cat’s soft breaths.

***  
It had been three weeks since the whole ‘take-my-sisters-organs’ incident, Chris and Dan were becoming restless. Spending entire nights living off of coffee and throwing actual water in each-other’s faces. Dan realized, he was really the only one who needed to be doing this. Chris had no strings attached to Phil, so why was he helping? Dan decided to voice his concerns over toast and pumpkin juice,

“Chris, why are you so eager to help? I mean you don’t even know Phil.” Dan asked, trying not to offend the other,

“I may not know Phil, but I knew PJ. I knew him a little too much, and I know that Mack murdered him in order to kill Phil too. Not only do I want justice, and an innocent person to not die, but you’re my friend. And it’s pretty clear you’re in love with him.” The last bit was a tad obscured by a small giggle, but Dan did hear it,

“I’m not in love with him.” Dan tried to apply a terse tone but ended up having a huge seeping grin to go along with his words,

“Shove off Dan, anyone can see it.” Chris said, poking Dan in the side,

“It doesn’t matter if I do or not. Phil doesn’t see me in that way, he probably never will.” Dan said, sadly,

“Are you fucking kidding me? You’ve spent nearly months working on trying to find a cure when his own parents haven’t, you protected him even behind his back, when it was easier to just quit. And I thought you were going to tell him how you felt…” Chris said, seeming disappointed at Dan’s backwards spiral,

“I was but then he was poisoned.” Dan said, then laughed, he never thought he would have to say that,

“Well when he wakes up, you need to tell him. If he doesn’t devote his life to you because you saved it.” Chris snorts at the idea, Dan liked the way that Chris said ‘when’ instead of ‘if’,

“Okay, deal.” They shook on it, no backing down now.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ahhhh sry that i'm late on this, love you guys <3 pls tell me what you think is gon happen, also what do you think 'The Sword Of Purity' is????? anyway gtg bye, update tmrw


	18. Chapter Seventeen

Chapter Seventeen

Dan walked around the opening to the chasm that he had held so dearly to his heart, journal hanging loosely from his hand. He nervously tiptoes into the threshold, but jumps back. He didn’t want to go inside, he didn’t want to relive every memory him and Phil had made. Dan needed closure, he needed time to himself, away from Chris.   
So he walked in, sat on a rock and began to write in his diary, laughing as he read back onto those days where he and Phil had hung out all day long. 

Before he could realize it, it was dark out. A clear sky of stars lay above Dan and he smiled, the moon light bathing his skin. He remembered when Phil had showed him all of his favourite constellations. Looking up at the vast canvas of space, he could still make out a few. Orion’s belt, Bellatrix and Saiph. He couldn’t remember why Phil had loved them so much. He couldn’t remember much of anything. Why was he looking? He had only known Phil for two months, why was he putting all of this work in when Phil could just as easily hate him in the future. Dan frowned at himself, he shouldn’t be second guessing his motives. He needed to see Phil’s smile again, to hear him laugh. He needed Phil to know that Mack was caught. It was as simple as that. Dan never knew he would miss the little things about Phil until they were gone.

***

Chris was alone in the Gryffindor house. He and Dan had been staying there since the beginning of November, it was deemed one of the safest houses, since it was so close to most of the classroom, and the teacher dormitories. Dan had gone for a walk, it was dark out now, Chris assumed he would return at any moment. He began to cry. He hated crying, but it wasn’t so bad when nobody could see it happen. Chris cried about PJ, he cried about how his only friend didn’t see him as one. He knew Dan tried to hide it, but it was obvious. Dan didn’t consider him and Chris as friends, and it broke Chris’s heart. Not in the sappy, clichéd way, but in a way that said ‘I do as much as I can for you and you don’t think we’re friends’. Chris looked out the window in his dorm, he saw the younger boy, clad in black and walking seemingly aimless on the grass. He kept his eyes to the stars and Chris smiled at the sight, why he was still crying, he didn’t know. Sometimes he wanted to die but he knew he needed to stay alive, it’s what PJ would have wanted from him. 

He turns his head to Hassain. He was looking at him with almond shaped eyes, head tilted to the side. Chris grinned and pat him on the head. Suddenly, the cat made a squeak and ran out of the room and down the stairs. The boy was confused, that wasn’t at all Hassain’s usual behaviour. He followed him out of the room, and found him clawing at one of the thick books,

“Hassain no!” Chris shouted, the sleek cat had torn the cover and the front pages of the book, “Look what you’ve done!” 

The stout Bombay hissed at Chris and leapt onto the book again, clawing at it. Chris shook him off and put the book up some place high. He scooped up Hassain and locked him in an unoccupied dorm. What was that? Chris wondered. His cat was always doing random stuff, so he just ignored him and waited for Dan to return. 

Fifteen minutes later, Dan comes back into the common room. Chris was happy to have company again, it really was harmful for him to be alone. Dan looked disgruntled, but Chris shoved it off, pretending he hadn’t noticed. There was a loud moan from the dorms,

“Was that Hassain?” Dan asked, laughing a little,

“Yeah, he was clawing at the book so I locked him in a room.” The younger boy smiled,

“He’s probably just as annoyed as we are.” Chris smiled back at Dan, and ran upstairs to get his cat.

Dan inspected the damage Hassain had done to the books. It wasn’t too bad, on a whim, he opened the book and started to read. It was about pure creatures, like unicorns and an extinct species of pixie. Chris returned and looked over Dan’s shoulder, it was a newspaper clipping that had been added to the book. It was about Voldemort using unicorn blood to stay alive. It wasn’t that long ago, it seemed, that one of the darkest wizards of all time had been free and killing to his every arbitrary idea. Dan felt himself shudder,

“Too bad we can’t make a sword out of unicorn blood.” Chris said, flopping on the couch beside Dan, 

“Yeah really.” Dan agreed, his curly hair falling into his face,

“What about their horns? Does it say anything about that?” Dan asked, Chris shook his head, 

“That wouldn’t make sense. It says sword, a unicorn horn isn’t a sword.” Dan shrug, defeated,

“You’re probably right.” They both sighed and returned to looking in countless books. 

***

“Albus?” Minerva called out into the vacant office, she waltzed forward, he long black cloak sashaying behind her,

“I’m in here.” She heard a tired voice say, she turned to her left and walked through and door that was left adjacent.

The headmaster was slouched over a small workbench, a heart on the edge and a cauldron on the other,

“What is the matter?” She asked,

“The giant heart isn’t the right ingredient.” Dumbledore said regrettably,

“You mean to tell me that those boys think they’ve nearly solved it? What are we going to tell them?” McGonagall asked, worry in her balmy voice,

“We mustn’t tell them Minerva. They will be distraught. We will wait until they find the last ingredient…maybe-“ 

“Maybe what Albus? A boy’s life is at stake here. You’re treating it like he’s a slab of meat. These boys aren’t Harry or Ron, or Hermione for that matter. You cannot jerk them around in your little fantasy!” She said, absolutely beside herself,

“I understand how you feel… but we cannot help them.” The older lady furrowed her pale eyebrows,

“And why not?” 

“They must do this one their own. Hagrid was out of line to sacrifice his sister. These boys must do it on their own. They’re special.” Dumbledore says, eyes unfocused,

“Honestly, you’re worse than Slughorn. If you don’t tell Daniel or Christopher that the potion is incomplete, then I will.” 

She turn with a flare of her cape and left the office. This was just another wrinkle to her forehead.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> sorry this was late my internet stopped working :((((((((((((((  
> <3


	19. Chapter Eighteen

Chapter Eighteen

Dan ran across the school grounds, bursting in excitement. He was on the precipice of screaming when Chris saw him,

“I figured it out! Chris I figured it out!” He squirmed in anticipation,

“What did you figure out?” Chris asked, bemused by Dan’s behavior,

“That last riddle. It was a unicorn horn!” Chris’s hazel eyes widened,

“Seriously? Oh my god. Dan…that means…” Dan laughed and nodded,

“We’ll have him back. In a few days, he’ll wake up!” An ear to ear smile spread across Chris’s face, he grabbed Dan’s hand and began running to what Dan presumed, Dumbledore’s office.  
On the way, through pants and several laughs, Dan told Chris the whole story. Of how he was walking through the forbidden forest, when he spotted a unicorn. He walked forward, hand extended. The silver haired creature blinked at him, breathing evenly. It curled its hoof back and lowered its head. Dan had cast his eyes into the grass, there was a glimmering object, but when he looked up to ask the unicorn a question, it had disappeared. He held the horn in its hand, feeling overwhelming happiness. It was beautiful, probably the most beautiful thing he had ever seen. Why the unicorn had given him its horn, he had no idea. Dan was just glad that he had it,

“Professor! Professor let us in! Please!” The boys pounded their fists on the door, it swung open, the tired old headmaster looked into the boys faces with lively eyes,

“To what do I owe the pleasure of seeing you two here?” Dumbledore asked, letting Dan and Chris run around in his office, 

“You wouldn’t believe it!” Chris exclaimed, the two tripped over each other’s words, trying to explain the commodity to their principal,

“One at a time, please.” The elder said, massaging his temple lightly,

“A unicorn, gave Dan the last ingredient!” Chris said, still in awe, Albus sat up straighter in his seat, his cloaks falling forward onto the floor,

“So you solved the last riddle?” He asked, Dan nodded his head, vigorously, eyes wide and pure,

“That mean we can give Phil the potion right?” Chris asked, Dumbledore nodded, a wry smile on his lips, the older teenager reminded him of Ron,

“When?” Dan said, biting his thumb nail,

“This weekend, most likely. I’m sure professor Harpendale will have no trouble.” Dumbledore smiled, Dan felt a rush in his throat, like he was jumping off of a bridge,

“Thank-you sir.” He said, voice cracking, tears of joy filled his eyes and he hugged Chris, they laughed and left the office, imagining how they could decorate a welcome back card.   
***  
The two heroes, as deemed by the Hogwarts staff, were cutting up paper and charming small plastic beads. They intended to make the best welcome back card for Phil, one that he would never forget. Over the sound of cutting paper, Chris fawned over how Dan and Phil had the best love story in history,

“It’s adorable, if it were anyone else, you would agree.” Chris said, pouting slightly,

“But we’re not in love, at least he’s not.” Dan mumbled, Chris drops his scissors,

“You mean-“ Dan shoved a pillow in his face,

“Yeah I guess. But I don’t want to talk about it. It’s weird talking about him when he’s in a coma.” He made a lame excuse and continued to make the craft, 

“Fine fine, but you guys have to invite me to your wedding.” Dan rolled his eyes and focused on trimming the corners of his pale blue paper, it reminded him of Phil’s eyes. 

The same eyes that would be looking at him for the first time in three months. He smiled, giddy. High on a boy who was pure stardust.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> oh wow. this story is coming to a close. im sad guys! I love writing it, but I'm excited to start a new project :) anyway, a short chapter till the big explosion. <3


	20. Chapter Nineteen

Chapter Nineteen 

Dan turned in his bed, head aching. He couldn’t sleep. His thoughts were elsewhere. There was a stale glass of water on his nightstand and he sipped from it, making it’s bitter way down his throat. He had high hopes for the next day, but he tried not to get to excited. He had no back up plan. And, with all jokes aside, he really did love Phil. Dan didn’t believe that he would be able to live without him. It had been such a short amount of time, but love works in mysterious way….right?

***  
It’s Sunday. Today was the day. Professor Harpendale had slaved away on his potions table to make it possible in such a short timeframe, but it was ready. Dan’s heart was racing, Phil’s parents weren’t even there. It was just him, Chris, Dumbledore, and Harpendale. He doubted that Phil’s parents were even notified that the school had shut down, let alone their son being in a poison induced coma.  
There were a few nurses supporting Phil’s head, his hair flopped into his face, ginger roots showing. His facial expression didn’t change as they propped his mouth open, nor when they put a small slide like object down his throat. It was to ensure that he would really swallow the antidote. Dumbledore was looking rather nervous, Dan didn’t have the energy to figure out why, because he hadn’t slept in two days. Chris did the honors of pouring the potion into a plain hospital vile, the nurses smiled and tipped it, the brown shimmering liquid slid down his throat easily.  
Ten minutes had passed and there was no effect. Dan was starting to get nervous, shouldn’t it have worked by now? He was about to say something when Phil took a gulp of breath, his back arched and he started to shake, they turned him on his side, and he vomited blood,

“Is this normal?” Dan asked his potions professor, he shook his head and blanched, Dan rushed forward and kneeled on the floor next to Phil’s face.  
The nurses tried to get him to move, but he didn’t want to. He took Phil’s hand and held it. His shakes became more of quivers, but there was still blood coming from his mouth, soaking Dan’s clothes,  
“If he does not get help now, he will bleed out.” He heard a voice behind him say. 

Hands wrapped around his chest and tried to pull him back, but he didn’t want to let go of Phil’s hand. He couldn’t. He wouldn’t. A ripple ran through the raven haired boy’s body, his eyes flew open. They weren’t blue, there were white and rolled into his skull,

“Phil.” Dan said, oddly calm despite the tears running down his face, he knew this would be the end. What could they possibly do now?  
The wracking stopped, his eyes fell closed, and the nurses checked Phil’s vitals, 

“We’re sorry…there’s nothing we could’ve done.” Dan’s heart stopped in his chest. He felt like every nerve in his body was dead. Phil, was gone. 

Three months of sorting out riddles, waiting for this day where he could finally see Phil, hear his laugh. He would never hear it ever again. Sadness enveloped Dan and he wiped the blood off of Phil’s lips, the ones he so desperately wanted to kiss. They were pale and lifeless. Dan buried his head in Phil’s neck, their hair clashing against each other. He didn’t care about the blood that would surely ruin his clothes. That’s how this all started anyway, a stained shirt. He remembered how nervous Phil looked, apologizing for the incident. He remembered the wild uncertainty in his eyes near the Whomping Willow,

“I love you.” He breathed, holding his limp head in his arms, crying more emptily than ever before.

Chris was crying too, this really was it. Any closure he hoped to find about PJ was gone. Dumbledore looked breathless, knowing that it was his fault. He had put the wrong ingredient in the potion.  
Dan pulled back, looking at Phil’s eyes, begging them to open again,

“I love you god dammit!” He shouted, tears falling from his face, he covered his eyes and held Phil’s hand. 

Suddenly, a lurch of energy soared across Dan’s body, threads of silver unwound from his heart and jumped from his chest. Like excited school children, they jumped around Dan’s puzzled face. They danced around the boys’ hands, twirling like fairies, binding their fingers together. They crawled up Phil’s arms and into his hospital dress, the room had fallen dark and the only light Dan could detect was the never ending argent that had crawled under Phil’s skin and was pulsing through his body like veins. Incoherent whispers bounced in Dan’s head, and for a moment he questioned his sanity, but he knew that the others saw it too because they were staring at the two in shock. The whispers came closer and closer, reminding Dan of the Hogwarts express, and the way he stepped off of the platform on the first day. He remembered how Phil had been captivated by the star Beetlejuice, and he smiled. His vision blurred as the light became nearly unbearable to look upon. With a flash of white, Dan’s eyes closed completely. He heard a honeysuckle voice say in his ears, 

“I love you too.” 

It was magic Dumbledore had only seen once before, from a former student named Lily. It was love, pure, unadulterated, love. Whether it was from a fifth year or not, it was real. It brought him back, though he wasn’t yet gone. He was still hanging on, to what Dan never did find out, but he knew that Phil was still there, hiding in a corner. 

The boy’s eyes fluttered open, eyelashes sticky with sleep and tears,

“Phil?” He asked, voice small, 

“Dan.” He heard a northern voice whisper, his head felt numb,

“I-I thought you were gone.” He said, no tears left to cry,

“I could never stay there. There are no stars.” Dan chuckled,

“You and your bloody stars.” Phil’s eyes gazed into Dan’s,

“You are my stars. You are a sun in my world of dull, Dan I mean it. I love you.” Dan leaned forward, pressing his lips against Phil’s.

It felt like a supernova, propelling him over the edge of space and back again. The silver had dissipated, but he could still taste it on Phil. Chris’s throat cleared and they broke apart,

“Guys, as much as I love that you’re finally fucking together, we do have a few things to sort out. Considering um, Phil has been in a coma for three months…?” Chris said, Phil choked on air,

“What? It’s been three months?” He looked more pale than usual,

“Yeah, you’ve missed a bunch of stuff man.” Chris said, sitting at the edge of the bed. It was then when Phil realized he was bathed in blood and so was Dan. He gagged and sat up,

“Like what?” Phil asked, Dan and Chris exchanged looks and laughed,

“We’ve got a hell of a lot of stuff to fill you in on.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> wow. It's done! I've loved writing this and i hope you guys enjoyed it too! On to the next project, bye <3


End file.
